■"^Jl^ 




o 



A CONTRIBUTION TO HISTORY AND 
FOLK-LORE 



BEING THE HISTORY OF GILLES DE RETZ OF BRITTANY, 

FRANCE, WHO WAS EXECUTED AT NANTES IN 1440 A.D. 

AND WHO WAS THE ORIGINAL OF BLUE-BEARD IN THE 

TALES OF MOTHER GOOSE 



BY 
THOMAS WILSON, LL.D. 

CURATOR, DIVISION OF PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 

COUNSELLOR OF THE BAR OF THE SUPREME COURTS, COURT OF 

CLAIMS AND OF APPEALS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

FORMERLY U. S. CONSUL AT GHENT, BELGIUM ; AT NANTES AND NICE, FRANCE 



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ILLUSTRATED 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK & LONDON 

C:be 1f?nicf?ert»ocf'.er press 

1899 



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Copyright, iSgg 

BY 

THOMAS WILSON 
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 




SECOND COPYi tCbe Itnickecbocliei; press, mew Borfe 




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TO 

MY DEAR WIFE 

THE COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS 

WHILE THE MATERIAL FOR THIS VOLUME WAS GATHERED 

THE PARTNER OF MY MANY JOYS 

THE SHARER OF MY FEW SORROWS 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

T. W. 



CONTENTS 
Introduction 



CHAPTER I 

GiLLES DE ReTZ, 1404-142O 

His Name, Family, Marriage, and Education .... I 

CHAPTER II 

GiLLES AS A Soldier, 1420-1429 

Eirst for John V., Duke of Brittany, against the House of 

Blois. He Joins the Army of France and is Assigned 

to Duty with Joan of Arc. Crowning of the King, and 

Gilles made Marshal of France ..... 9 

CHAPTER III 

GiLLEs's Life at Home in Brittany 
1430-1439 

The Personal Appearance of Gilles de Retz. An Epitome of 
his Life. His Extravagance and Ruinous Expenditures. 
His Inheritance. His Sales and Transfers of Property. 
His Love for the Theatre. Mysteries. That of the Siege 
""" Orleans. Mysteries at Nantes, The Cathedral. Ex- 
> pensive Visit to Orleans. Maison de la Suze. The De- 
cree of the King Interdicting his Sale or Incumbrance of 
Property, An Increasing Demand for Money Drives him 
to Magic in Search for the Philosopher's Stone and the 
Transmutation of Base Metals into Gold, Magic . . 24 



vi Contents 

CHAPTER IV 

GiLLEs's Crimes 

PAGE 

Gilles's Abduction of Children. His Familiars. Chateau de 
TifEauges. First Process against Gilles. Warrant. Ar- 
rest and Imprisonment. Chateau de Nantes ... 64 

CHAPTER V 

Gilles's Trial before the Ecclesiastical 

Tribunal 

The Ecclesiastical Tribunal. Record in the Archives of Loire- 
Inferieure. The Trial. His Confession. Judgment and 
Sentence 93 

CHAPTER VI 

The Trial before the Civil Court 

Trial before the Civil Court. Depositions. Conviction and 

Sentence 167 

CHAPTER VII 

The Execution 177 

APPENDIX A 

Mother Goose Publications 183 

APPENDIX B 

Bluebeard Stories 186 

APPENDIX c 
Mystery of the Siege of Orleans . . .189 

APPENDIX D 

Depositions in Civil Court against Gilles . 195 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Chateau (Castle) of Nantes, where Gilles 

WAS Tried. — From the River Loire. Frontispiece ^ 

GiLLEs's Signature and Rubric ... 22 

A Street in Nantes — Ancient Houses . facing 47 

Facsimile of Folio Page from Archives of 
Trial at Nantes. Confession of Gilles 
DE Retz facing 138 

Grotto of Bonne Vierge de Criei^-Lait. Ex- 
piatory Altar of Gilles Erected by his 
Daughter facing 179 



INTRODUCTION 

THE story of Bluebeard has become a 
classic in infantile mythical (folk-lore) 
literature wherever the English and French 
languages are spoken. Rev. Dr. Shahan sug- 
gests its possible existence in earlier lan- 
guages and more distant countries (see p. xiv.). 
The story is more or less mythical. While it 
does not follow history with any pretence of 
fidelity, it has come to be recognised by the 
historians and literati of France as represent- 
ing the life of Gilles de Retz (or Rais), a sol- 
dier of Brittany in the first half of the fifteenth ■ 
century. He was of noble birth, was pos- 
sessed of much riches, was the lord of many 
manors, had a certain genius and ability, made 
some reputation as a soldier at an extremely 
early age, fought with Joan of Arc, and was 
Marshal of France. At the close of these 
wars he retired to his estates in Brittany, 
and, in connection with an Italian magi- 



X Introduction 

cian, he entered upon a search for the EHxir 
of Youth and the Philosopher's Stone. To- 
gether they became possessed by the idea that 
the foundation of this eHxir should be the 
blood of infants or maidens, and, using the 
almost unbridled power incident to a great 
man (at that early date) in that wild country, 
they abducted many maidens and children, 
who were carried to some one of his castles 
and slain. Suspicion was finally directed to- 
ward him ; he was arrested, tried, convicted, 
sentenced to death, and executed at the city 
of Nantes, October 27, 1440, at the early age 
of thirty-six years. 

The author of this volume was sent, in 1882, 
to the good city of Nantes as United States 
Consul. While resident there he entered 
upon the investigation which resulted in this 
volume. He obtained access to the original 
records of the trial in the archives of the de- 
partment, and made a photographic copy of 
one of its manuscript Latin pages which is 
shown in its proper place. The trial of Gilles 
de Retz took place in the chateau of Nantes, 
sentence was pronounced at the Place Bouffay, 
and he was executed on the Prairie de la 
Madeleine, the exact locality being now occu- 



Introduction xl 

pied by the Hospital of St. Anne. The author 
procured photographs and drawings of some 
of these localities, which will appear in this 
volume. 



Monsieur Charles Perrault was the author 
of the story of Bluebeard. He was born 
at Paris, January 12, 1628. His father was 
an advocate, originally from Tours. He was 
the youngest of four brothers : the oldest, 
Peter, was destined for the Bar, but became 
the Receiver-General of Finances under Louis 
XIV. and his Prime Minister Colbert, though 
he afterwards fell out of favour and died in 
poverty ; Claude studied medicine ; and Nicho- 
las, theology. Charles was taken up by Col- 
bert and made Superintendent of Public 
Buildings throughout the kingdom. While 
in this position, the erection of the Observa- 
tory and the reconstruction and completion of 
the Palais du Louvre were determined upon. 
Plans for these buildings were to be decided 
by competition, and the renown of the name 
of Perrault is greatly increased by the fact 
that Charles's brother Claude, although edu- 
cated as a doctor of medicine and not as an 
architect, designed plans which, after much 



xii Introduction 

discussion and investigation, extending even 
to Rome, were finally adopted by the King 
and his Minister. Charles Perrault became a 
member of the Academy — one of the " Im- 
mortal Forty." He introduced many improve- 
ments into their methods, the principal of 
which was for securing the attendance of 
members, and a continuance of, and devotion 
to, the work of preparing the great French 
Dictionary. An episode in his life, covering 
several years, was his poem of Le Sitcle de 
Louis le Grand and the parallel between the 
ancients and moderns, which produced a dis- 
cussion among the most brilliant writers of 
France. Boileau, Racine, La Fontaine, Long- 
pierre, Buet, Arnauld, and other illustrious 
champions took up the cudgels against Per- 
rault and Fontanelle, and in favour of the 
ancient classic heroes. 

In 1662, Perrault retired from his office in 
the Public Buildings, selling his right therein 
to Monsieur de Blainville, a son-in-law of Col- 
bert. Until his death, May, 16, 1703, he de- 
voted himself to literature and to the education 
of his children, and this was probably the 
happiest portion of his life, for he loved to be 
in the bosom of his family. He wrote for the 



Introduction xiii 

amusement of his children that which has now 
become the most celebrated of his writings, 
which has done more to perpetuate his name 
and fame, and by which he is better known 
than by the more pretentious and serious pa- 
pers and poems, — the Contes de Mire /' Oye 
(Stories of Mother Goose). The first edition 
was published in 1697 under the name of his 
son, Perrault d'Armancourt, and dedicated to 
Mademoiselle Elizabeth Charlotte d'Orleans, 
the sister of the Duke of Chartres and the 
niece of Louis XIV. These Mother Goose 
stories were as follows : Little Red Riding- 
Hood^ The Fairies, Bhtebeard, The Sleepi^ig 
Beauty, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Reqziet d la 
Houppe, to which Le Petit Poucet, The Adroit 
Princess, and The Asss Skin were afterwards 
added. There were still others in verse and 
fable translated. Perrault was more poet than 
prose writer — his serious works were in poetry : 
Painting, The Apology for Women, The Cent- 
ury of Louis the Grand, Genitcs (to Fonta- 
nelle), and A Portrait of the Voice of Iris. We, 
however, are interested alone in Bhiebeard} 

Studious historians or astute critics may 
dispute Perrault's history of Bluebeard hav- 

' See Appendix A. 



xiv Introduction 

ing been founded upon the life of Gilles de 
Retz, but the country people (the folk) of 
Brittany will simply smile at such erudition 
and continue in their former belief that Blue- 
beard represents a cruel, wicked man who 
lived here hundreds of years ago and who was 
executed for his many crimes against humanity; 
and the old men and women and the nurses 
will repeat the story of Gilles de Retz under 
the name of Bluebeard, — sometimes how he ab- 
ducted and murdered the children, and other 
times how he murdered his wives. In that 
country Gilles de Retz will always be known 
as Bluebeard, and we must accept their verdict 
as final.^ 

Rev. Dr. Shahan writes : 

Dear Professor Wilson : 

I have looked through your interesting work with the greatest 
pleasure. It is just such a tale as I would delight in tracing through 
its strange genesis and stranger propaganda. . . . 

I wonder if the actual facts were not soon plaited back into an- 
cient nursery tales of a kindred tone, and a fresh lease of life thus 
given to mythical narratives that would otherwise not have had 
strength enough to perpetuate themselves to our time, at least in 
such intensity and vitality. 

I would suggest as complete a literature of the Bluebeard subject 
as possible ' and think perhaps it would be well to see what roots it 
had struck in German, Spanish, and Welsh soil, — fields always sus- 
ceptible at that time to anything odd or romantic. 

' See Appendix B. 



Introduction 



XV 



When I was a child how often I cried with Sister Anne on the 
high tower, and looked for the three specks out on the ocean ' ' no 
bigger than the head of a pin." Thank God ! their steeds always 
breasted the flood bravely and arrived in time to save injured inno- 
cence. Is not that the true origin of Bluebeard, in an age of 
chivalrous ideal, of strict theologico-popular views of justice and of 
feudal individualism ? 

The box of Pandora and the key of Bluebeard may have some 
relationship — CURIOSITY, irrepressible though dangerous, is its 
keynote, and I wonder if it does not all come from India, like those 
mediaeval tales that Gaston Paris tells about, or if it is not an old 
Gaelic myth, like that of Balor-of-the-Mighty-Blows so well 
translated by Standish O'Grady in his Silva Gadelica, . . . 
Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Thomas J. Shahan. 




BLUEBEARD 



CHAPTER I 

GiLLES DE ReTZ 
His Name, Family, Marriage, and Education 

THE original of Bluebeard in the 
Mother Goose story was Gilles de 
Rais (changed in 1581 to Retz), though he 
is sometimes called Gilles de Laval in his- 
tory. Neither the date nor place of his birth 
is known with precision, but it took place in 
the autumn of 1404, probably at Machecoul, 
one of the family chateaux in the southern 
part of Brittany. 

The ancestors of Gilles de Retz belonged 
to four noble and illustrious families in Brit- 
tany : I. Laval, sometimes called Montmor- 
ency-Laval ; 2. Rais (changed to Retz in 



2 Bluebeard 

1581) ; 3. Machecoul ; and 4. Craon. These 
families could trace their ancestry to the 
eleventh or twelfth centuries. Gilles's father 
was a Laval or Montmorency-Laval, named 
Guy ; his grandfather was also Guy, and many 
of his ancestry bore the same surname. His 
grandmother was a sister of the great Du 
Guesclin ; his great-grandmother was Joan, 
called la Folk, or " the Crazy." 

The House of Rais in that day was repre- 
sented by Joan la Sage (the Wise), 1371- 
1406. Being without heirs she, in 1400, by 
solemn act, adopted Guy de Laval, the father 
of Gilles, as her heir and successor. A legal 
impediment existed in an act of disinheritance 
which had been passed against Joan la FoUe, 
the grandmother of Guy de Laval, and it re- 
quired a special decree to enable Guy to ac- 
cept the inheritance. This was finally done 
under the condition that he should abandon 
the name, arms, and escutcheon of the family 
of Laval, and bear those of Rais. But Joan 
la Sage afterwards repented of her choice and 
attempted, by act of May 14, 1402, to change 
her succession in favour of Catherine de Mache- 
coul. This begat a suit-at-law, which was 
taken by appeal to the Parliament at Paris. 



Gilles de Retz 3 

By this time Jean de Craon had come to be 
the heir of his mother, Catherine de Mache- 
coul. He had a daughter named Marie, and for 
the settlement of a contest which, it was feared 
with reason, might be interminable, it was 
agreed between the families, as it was between 
York and Lancaster, that the representatives 
of the two respective houses should be inter- 
married, and accordingly, in the spring of 1404, 
Guy de Laval (changed to be Guy de Rais) 
was married to Marie de Craon, and thus it was 
that Guy de Laval, the father of Gilles, became 
the heir and successor of Joan la Sage (of Rais), 
received her property, and took her name. 

There has been some dispute among the his- 
torians of Brittany as to dates, but it is agreed 
that the contest at law between the two fami- 
lies was begun in 1402, was still found on the 
parliamentary records in 1403, and was set- 
tled by the marriage, which the best authori- 
ties agree took place February 5, 1404. 

Guy de Laval (Rais) and Marie de Craon 
were the parents of Gilles de Rais, who was their 
first-born. His birth is believed to have taken 
place at the chateau of Machecoul during the 
last months of the year 1404. A doubt has 
been thrown over these dates, especially that 



4 Bluebeard 

of his birth, because of his extreme youth when 
he made his appearance in public affairs. If 
born at that time, he would appear to have 
been a Marshal of France at twenty-five years 
of age ; but this was not impossible, and the 
weight of the evidence seems to favour the 
dates as given. 

The parents of Gilles had another son, Rene 
de la Suze, but he seems to have made but 
little figure compared with his redoubtable 
brother. Guy de Laval, the father, died on 
the last day of October, 141 5, and the records 
show his last will and testament dated on the 
28th and 29th of that month. He gave the 
tutelage of his sons to a distant cousin, John 
de Tournemine ; but by some means not ap- 
pearing, the maternal grandfather, Jean de 
Craon, took upon himself their guardianship. 
The mother, Marie, was remarried soon after 
the death of her husband, to Charles Desou- 
ville, the Lord of Villebon. The grandfather 
of Gilles and Rene seems to have been excess- 
ively indulgent and devoted to the children, 
and if he was old, he was of strong will, fiery 
temper, staunch patriotism, and obstinate 
disposition. 

In 141 7, when Gilles was but thirteen years 



Gilles de Retz 5 

old, he was engaged by his grandfather to Joan 
Peynel, the daughter of Foulques Peynel, the 
Lord of Hambuie and Briquebec ; but the con- 
tract was voided by her death. In November, 
1 41 8, the grandfather made for him a second 
contract of marriage, this time with Beatrice 
de Rohan, the eldest daughter of Alain de 
Porhoet. The contract was signed at Vannes 
with great ceremony in the presence of an 
illustrious throng of Breton nobles. But this 
contract came to an end, as did the former, by 
the unfortunate death of the young lady. This 
double failure did not, however, discourage the 
doting grandfather. He immediately proceeded 
with his arrangements for a third contract, this 
time with Catherine de Thouars, the daughter 
of Miles de Thouars and Beatrice de Morgan, 
and this marriage was celebrated on the last 
day of November, 1420. The young wife, 
Catherine, brought to her husband, Gilles, the 
property of Tiffauges, Pouzauges, Savenay, 
Confolons, Chabenais, and others of minor 
importance. The first two mentioned were 
well provided with chateaux. The property 
and chateau of Machecoul came to Gilles 
through his mother's family, and the chateau 
and property of Champtoce came to him upon 



6 Bluebeard 

the death of his grandfather. This, with the 
fortune of his father, Guy de Laval, to which 
must be added that of the family of Rais left 
by Joan la Sage, made Gilles de Rais one of 
the richest barons of the province. 

Under the conditions of the adolescence of 
Gilles de Retz, his education may be better 
imagined than described. Left at the age of 
eleven an orphan or a half-orphan, by the 
death of his father ; the remarriage of his 
mother within a year thereafter ; the contest 
of greater or less gravity over his guardian- 
ship, which ended in the success of his mater- 
nal grandfather, whose best recommendation 
for the position seems to have been his love 
for his grandchildren and his subsequent will- 
ingness to indulge them, and also his great 
desire to get them (especially the elder) mar- 
ried and off his hands, a proceeding which he 
conducted with such celerity that the young 
man was engaged three times with all pomp 
and formality, and finally married by the time 
he was sixteen years old : this would seem to 
afford but little time or opportunity to obtain 
an education, even under the best facilities, 
however studious and seriously inclined he 
might have been. 



Gilles de Retz 7 

Education did not stand very high in the 
province of Brittany at this era. There was 
much excuse, especially for the nobles and 
barons of Brittany, for their lack of education. 
The profession of war seems to have been the 
highest recommendation, and the shortest, as 
well as the easiest and most agreeable, road to 
preferment. There is much to be said on the 
score of patriotism and the needs of the coun- 
try, for, as will be seen farther on, it was an 
era of war, and Brittany was in the midst of it. 
The education in arms was almost inevitable ; 
it had greater attraction for Gilles than books, 
arts, or sciences ; and it appears that his grand- 
father allowed him to pursue his own wishes 
and desires without even an attempt at control. 
Gilles, during his trial, said: "In my youth I 
was allowed to go always according to my own 
sweet will." Nevertheless, he spoke three 
languages, Latin, French, and Breton, had 
some knowledge of chemistry, and it seems to 
be without question that he had a library, so 
well chosen as to be an object of commenda- 
tion and attraction to highly educated persons. 
In the inventory of his effects, taken in 1436 
and found among his records, is a receipt of 
Jean Montclair given to Jean Bouray, for a 



8 



Bluebeard 



book a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses, de- 
scribed to have been in parchment covered 
with leather-gilt, with copper clasps and locks 
of silver-gilt, with a crucifix of white silver on 
the back. 




CHAPTER II 

GiLLES AS A Soldier. 1420-1429 

First for yohn V.,Duke of Brittany, against the House 
of Blois. He yoins the Artny of Fra7ice and is As- 
signed to Duty with J^oan of Arc. Crowning of the 
King, and Gilles Made Marshal of France. 

IN the condition of his country at that time, 
it was but natural that this handsome, im- 
petuous, rich, and powerful baron should take 
up arms as his profession. France and Eng- 
land were in the midst of the Hundred Years' 
War. Brittany, Gilles's own duchy, had been 
since the death of John IV. engaged in a civil 
war over the succession. The family of Mont- 
forts (son of a younger son) had gained the 
victory over the Penthievres and Blois (daugh- 
ter of an elder son). Gilles's father and his 
family had fought on the side of Blois, but on 
his defeat they had made their peace with the 
victorious Duke. 



lo Bluebeard 

When Gilles was about sixteen years old an 
incident occurred wliich renewed the civil war 
and swept him into its midst. The head of 
the Blois family, with his mother, the daugh- 
ter of De Clisson, set a trap for John V. (De 
Montfort), Duke of Brittany, inviting him, un- 
der a flag of truce, to a friendly conference to 
be held at the castle of Champtoceaux. This 
conference was only a pretence, the flag of truce 
was violated, and John V. was entrapped and 
held prisoner. He was treated with great se- 
verity, bound in chains, and cast into a dun- 
geon. This inhuman treatment on the part 
of the Blois and Penthievres, being in viola- 
tion of every principle held sacred by men and 
soldiers, aroused the Indignation of the Bretons 
to a pitch beyond control. The peculiar inter- 
est of this to the present memoir is that, while 
the ancestral families of Gilles de Rals had 
always theretofore fought on the side of the 
Penthievres and Blois, they now turned to the 
other side and took up for John V. of Montfort. 

Du Guesclln, the uncle, and Brumor, the 
grandfather, of Gilles de Rais on his father's 
side, were now dead ; but Jean de Craon, his 
grandfather on his mother's side, he who had 
been so indulgent a guardian, still lived, and 



Gilles as a Soldier n 

on the 23d of February, 1420, a few months 
before the marriage of Gilles, they repaired to 
the town of Vannes, attending upon a session 
of the States-General, convoked in the absence 
of the Duke by his wife. Part of the cere- 
mony of Gilles and his grandfather was the 
oath of allegiance for the deliverance of their 
prince : '* We swear upon the cross to employ 
our bodies and our goods, and to enter into 
this quarrel for life and for death," — and they 
signed it with their proper hands and sealed it 
with their seals. The war broke out anew. 
Alain de Rohan was made Lieutenant-General. 
An army of fifty thousand men volunteered 
and took the field under him. In the front 
rank, by the side of his grandfather, at the 
head of all the vassals of their united baronies, 
was Gilles de Retz. This army marched 
against Lamballe which capitulated, Guingamp, 
the same, and successively Jugon, Chateaulan, 
Broon, and finally against the chateau of 
Champtoceaux in which the Duke was in- 
carcerated. This resisted the assault but was 
besieged and finally taken, the fortress demol- 
ished, and John V. was released and returned 
to Nantes where he was given a triumphal 
entry. 



12 Bluebeard 

The Chateau de Cllsson, the headquarters 
of the Penthievre faction, was south of Nantes 
twenty kilometres, and in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of the most extensive property of 
Gilles de Retz. In revenge for his adhesion 
to the Duke of Brittany, which Margaret de 
Clisson was pleased to call his treason to her 
side, she found it most convenient to raid and 
destroy the adjacent properties of Gilles de 
Retz. In reprisal, the Duchess of Brittany 
confiscated certain rights which Olivier, Count 
de Blois, had in or about the Chateau de Clis- 
son, and transferred them to the family of 
Gilles, and this was ratified by the Duke after 
his release. Then, as he says, ** In recogni- 
tion of the good and loyal services of his 
cousins, of Suze and Rais," he gives to them 
all the lands of Olivier de Blois, formerly 
Count de Penthievre, and of Charles his 
brother. This was afterwards compromised 
by the payment of a certain sum of money. 
Penthievres, Blois, and Clisson were cited to 
appear before the States-General, at which 
Gilles and his grandfather assisted as counsel- 
lors ; and, as an end of all things, the Parlia- 
ment of Brittany declared the Penthievres 
guilty of felony, treason, and Vese-majestd, con- 



Gilles as a Soldier 13 

demned them to death, and deprived them in 
perpetuity of their name, arms, and all honour 
in Brittany ; but they escaped to France. 

This was the introduction of Gilles de Retz 
to the profession of arms and his first appear- 
ance as one of the lords of the country. He 
was at that time only sixteen years old, and 
immediately upon the conclusion of this cam- 
paign he was married to Catherine de Thouars. 

France, at that epoch, was in danger of 
the fate which afterwards befell Poland. The 
duchy of Aquitaine, which comprised nearly 
all south-western France, had for its duke 
Edward III., King of England, The duchy 
of Burgundy had for its head Philip the Good, 
who was Count of Flanders and was stronger 
in his duchy than was the King of France in 
his kingdom. These two were banded to- 
gether by a treaty, offensive and defensive, and 
they and their countries were then, and had 
been for nigh sixty years, carrying on war 
against France with the avowed determination 
of establishing the King of England on her 
throne. The Duke of Bedford, son-in-law of 
the Duke of Burgundy, was the English general 
commanding in France. The Count of Riche- 
mont, the second son of the Duke of Brittany, 



14 Bluebeard 

was also the son-in-law of the Duke of Bur- 
gundy. Thus these strong nobles, princes, 
and kings were allied against France. In the 
dukedom of Brittany the contending houses 
of Blois and Montfort had been aided, respect- 
ively, by the King of France and the King of 
England, and had accepted and supported an 
English army on Breton soil. We all know of 
the condition of the dukedom of Normandy ; 
how, only a few hundred years earlier, William 
captured England at the battle of Hastings 
and established himself as her king. This 
process was now in danger of repetition, only 
with the conditions reversed, and France had 
then in prospect a worse fate than she ever had 
before or since. 

Such was the condition of France at the 
time of the death of Charles VI., on October 
21, 1422, when his son, Charles VII., came 
to the throne. Charles VII., was married to 
Mary of Anjou, the daughter of Yolande of 
Aragon, Queen of Sicily, the widow of Louis 
of Anjou ; a woman of noble heart, great spirit 
and patriotism, and devoted to France. Yo- 
lande set herself, with all her beauty and 
diplomacy, to divide and break up this coterie 
of great noblemen who had organised them- 



Gilles as a Soldier 15 

selves against the King, and to induce some of 
them to become supporters of France. On 
March 24, 1425, Yolande started for Brittany 
accompanied by sundry powerful seigneurs. 
Jean de Craon, grandfather of Gilles de Retz, 
was one of those approached, and his valiant 
services rendered to John V. of Brittany, in 
releasing him from the dungeon at Champto- 
ceaux, gave him great and deserved influence. 
Gilles de Retz had returned to his home 
after the defeat of the Blois party, and was 
residing there in the quiet and peace of his 
newly married life, when this new turn was 
made in the political kaleidoscope. A council 
of the States-General of Brittany was assembled 
at the city of Nantes, and Gilles was one of 
the seigneurs in attendance. Naturally, he 
would be one of the lieutenants of his grand- 
father, Jean de Craon, who had openly espoused 
the cause of the King of France, and who 
went Into the council with the expressed desire 
to win the Duke of Brittany in that direction. 
The Assembly pronounced strongly in favour 
of the alliance with the King of France, and 
the month of September was fixed as the time, 
and the town of Saumur, midway between 
Nantes and Angers, was appointed as the place, 



1 6 Bluebeard 

for a conference between the Duke of Brittany 
and the King of France. The terms fixed by 
the Duke were the same as those laid down 
by the Duke of Burgundy — that was, the 
expulsion of the Penthievre and Blois families 
from the Court of France. The King con- 
sented, and thus gained the active aid of the 
Duke of Brittany and the moral support of 
the Duke of Burgundy. 

The peace between the Duke of Brittany 
and the King of France brought its first great 
fruits in the offer to the King by the Count of 
Richemont, the brother of the Duke of Brit- 
tany, of his services against England, which 
was accepted, and he, the Count of Richmont, 
was made Constable of France. To him, 
probably more than to any other man, was 
France indebted for the final victory over 
England, and the establishment of France in 
her place among the nations of the world. 
Gilles de Retz, still with his grandfather, Jean 
de Craon, embraced the side of the King with 
ardour. He was rich and Charles was poor. 
He entered with spirit into all the pleasure 
and gayety of the Court. He became a pro- 
nounced favourite, and despite the subsequent 
defection or opposition of the Duke of Brit- 



Gilles as a Soldier 17 

tany, and the renunciation or withdrawal of 
favour from the Count of Richemont, Gilles 
de Retz and his grandfather remained indis- 
solubly bound to Charles VII. and to France. 

The first appearance of Gilles de Retz in 
the service of the King of France, or as a 
member of his Court, was September 8, 1425. 
He took service with the Breton troops and 
made his first essay as a soldier on the side 
of the King of France in the siege of Saint- 
Jean-de-Beuvron. 

Gilles de Retz associated himself with Am- 
broise de Lore and the Baron Beaumanoir 
(the son or grandson of him who led the 
fight for Brittany in the Combat de Trente). 
These three attacked and captured the fort- 
tress of Rainefort in Anjou, which capitulated 
with terms that spared the English soldiers, 
but left to be punished the Frenchmen who 
had committed treason against their country. 
Ambroise de Lore sought to save them, but 
Gilles was firm in his decison that they should 
hang as traitors, and such was their fate. The 
chateau of Malicorne was attacked by the 
same three, and captured, or surrendered, on 
the same terms. The two friends, Beaumanoir 
and Gilles, held together in their undertakings ; 



1 8 Bluebeard 

they were together at the siege of Montargis, 
which was conducted by Constable Richemont 
and La Hire. 

It was at this siege that La Hire, about to 
make the assault, was asked to join with the 
rest in prayer to God for aid and safety in the 
coming fight ; he had not much experience in 
religious vernacular, but he joined hands, and 
with the fervour of a bigot and the faith of a 
devotee said : " O God, I pray Thee to do 
for me to-day what Thou wouldst that I should 
do for Thee, were I God and Thou La Hire." 
In the assault which immediately followed, 
Gilles de Retz arrived at the top of the wall in 
advance of his soldiers. The first Englishman 
encountered was Captain Blackburn, the com- 
mander of the English forces, whom Gilles en- 
gaged in a hand-to-hand combat, killing him 
outright. On seeing their chief slain, the 
English soldiers threw down their arms and 
capitulated on the usual terms. This exploit 
was recognised by all his superiors, and cov- 
ered the young soldier with glory. But the 
victories of the French in the north were not 
equal to those gained by the English in the 
south, who, having captured nearly all France, 
Paris included, advanced into the interior. 



Gilles as a Soldier 19 

until at last they appeared before Orleans 
and commenced its memorable siege. 

Then, in 1429, came the brilliant meteor 
across the sky of France, Joan of Arc, the 
Maid of Orleans. Her visions at Domremy, 
her travels across France, passing safely 
through the lines of the enemy, her arrival at 
the castle of Chinon, her presentation to the 
King, her assault and capture of Orleans, are 
all matters of history. The theatre of her 
exploits in western France was not far distant 
from the barony and residence of Gilles de 
Retz. He was the kind of man to be captiv- 
ated by the Maid of Orleans, and he became 
one of her most devoted followers. It is said 
that he received from the King orders to be 
captain In her escort, whether as its com- 
mander does not appear, but he was with her 
at Chinon, Poitiers, Blois, Orleans, Jargeau, 
Meung, Beaugency, and Patay. 

On the occasion of the King's coronation at 
Rhelms, Gilles de Retz received the baton of 
Marshal of France. There is a question as 
to the date, but none as to the fact. Some 
authorities give the date as June 21, 1429; 
others, again, say that with other peers of 
France he was promoted on the day of the 



20 Bluebeard 

coronation of the King, July 17, 1429; still 
others assert it to have been in the month of 
September. It is explainable that all three 
of these dates are correct, for the King might 
well have announced, on the earliest date, that 
he was to be promoted to the rank of Marshal 
of France ; the ceremony of installation may 
have taken place upon the occasion of the 
King's coronation, and yet the commission 
not have been signed, or recorded, until Sep- 
tember. That he was an officer in high com- 
mand upon that occasion, and in favour with 
the King, cannot be doubted. 

The Kings of France, from Clovis, the first 
convert to Christianity, down to Louis XIV., 
were crowned in the cathedral at Rheims. 
There is a tradition that upon the crowning of 
King Clovis a white dove miraculously de- 
scended from Heaven and hovered over, if it 
did not alight upon, the King's head, bear- 
ing in its beak the ampulla containing the con- 
secrated oil for his coronation. The latter was 
retained and became a holy emblem under 
the name of Sainte Ampoule, and was pre- 
served in the Abbey of Saint Remy, near the 
cathedral at Rheims, until it was destroyed 
during the French Revolution. From Clovis 



Gilles as a Soldier 21 

to Louis 5X1 V. it figured in the coronation 
of every king of France. At the coronation of 
Charles VII., Gilles de Retz as Marshal of 
France, Marshal Boussac, Admiral de Culan, 
and Lord Graville were the four nobles of 
France chosen as its escort and guard of honour. 
After the coronation, Gilles remained in the 
service in his former position of guard, or cap- 
tain of the guard, of Joan of Arc. He accom- 
panied her to Paris, which the English evacuated 
and left to the care of the Duke of Burgundy. 
The capture of Joan at Compiegne took 
place May 20, 1430, and her execution May 
30, 1 43 1. There is no evidence reported of 
Gilles's presence during any of this time. 
There has been found among the records of 
the barony of Rais, a paper wherein he ac- 
knowledged a debt to " Roland Mauvoisin, 
Captain of Princay, the sum of huitvingtes 
[twenty-eight] crowns of gold, for the purchase 
of a horse, saddle, and bridle, promised to his 
dear and well beloved Michel Machafer, captain 
of a certain company, as soon as they arrived at 
Louviers, in order to engage said captain to 
come with him on this voyage." This paper 
was dated December 26, 1431, at Rouen, and 
is signed with his own proper hand. 



22 Bluebeard 




Gilles's signature and rubric. 



Note. — The army service of the Baron de Retz, his relation to 
Joan of Arc, and his investiture as Marshal of France, are authenti- 
cated in sundry histories of France. 

Monstrelet (vol. ii., p. 96) mentions him as a Marshal of France, 

Michelet (vol. v., p. 71) mentions the Marshal de Retz as one of 
the Bretons who went to the aid of the city of Orleans. 

Sismondi {Histoire des Fran^ais, vol. xiii., p. 124), speaking of 
the advent of Joan of Arc, says : 

' ' Le Roi I'envoya a Blois, apres de la petite armee qu'y rassem- 
blaient les Marecheaux de Rais et de Saint Sevire, Ambroise de Lore 
et le sire de Goncourt." 

In Jeanne d'Arc, by H. Wallon (Paris, i860), the author says : 

' ' Le Marechall de Boussac et le seignieur de Rais, investes du 
Commandement y rentrent Ares — peu apres, avec La Hire, Polon de 
Xaintrailles et tous ceux que devaient faire I'escort, 10 ou 12000 x 
hommes." 

And again in Jeanne d^Arc, by Harriet Parr (London : 1866, 
vol. i. p. 91). " The captains appointed to command the explora- 
tion (to Orleans) were the Marshal de Boussac, the Marshal de Retz, 
and Louis de Culant, Admiral of France." 

The extent of the relation of Gilles with the incident of Joan of 
Arc may be obtained by taking Quicherat's history of the Process 
for the Condemnation and Rehabilitation of Joan of Arc ( 5 vols., 
Paris, 1849) the refences in the index under the title of " Gilles de 
Rais " : ^ 

Rais (Gilles de Laval, sire de) present at the arrival of Joan before 
the King at the castle of Chinon, iv., 363, 407. 



Gilles as a Soldier 23 

He accompanies her to Orleans, iii., 4 ; iv., 5, 41, 53, 213, 491 ; 
v., 2go ; vi., 12, 20. 

His return to Blois, iv., 54, 56, 152, 155, 221, 222 ; v., 290. 

He assists at the Council with Jacques Boucher, iv., 57, 158. Com- 
bat at the capture of St. Loup, iv., 6, 43 ; at the capture of St. 
Augustine, iv., 61, 158, 226 ; at the capture of Tourelles, iv., 44; 
v., 261. 

His departure from Orleans with Joan, iv., 165. 

Took part in the expedition of Jargeau, iv., 12 ; v., 108, 261. 

Combat at Patay, iv., 238, 239, 319, 371, 419. 

He goes to Rheims, vi., 69, 180, 248, 378. 

He is escort of the Sainte Ampoule on the occasion of the corona- 
tion of the King, iv., 77, 185 ; v., 129. 

Made Marshal of France, v., 129. 

In command at Montepilloy, iv., 83, 193. 

Is sent to Senlis, iv., 24. 

Figures in the attack on Paris, iv., 26, 86, 87, 197, 199. 

Opposes (makes war on) the false Jeanne d'Arc, v., 333. 

The Livres de Comptes, the ofificial accounts of the Royal Ex- 
chequer, mention Gilles de Retz in connection with Joan of Arc on 
sundry occasions. 

The eighth account of Guillaume Chartiers, receiver-general of 
finance, published by Godfrey in Histoire de Charles VII. (p. 89). 

To Messire Gilles de Rais, Councillor and Chamberlain of the 
king, Sire and Marshal of France, the sum of one thousand pounds 
that our lord the king by his letters patent of xxi juin (M) CCCCXX 
at-arms in the Company of Joan of Arc and the employment in her 
service preparing for the siege of Tarjean. 

Paid by the city of Tours to John Colez 10 livres tournois for 
having brought the good news of the capture of Orleans by la pucelle 
0oan of Arc], Mgr, de Rais et les gens de leur compagnie. 



CHAPTER III 

GiLLEs's Life at Home in Brittany 
1430-1439 

The personal Appearance of Gilles de Retz. An Epitome of 
his Life. His Extravagance and ruinous Expendi- 
tures. His Tnheriiatice. His Sa/es and Transfers of 
Property. His Love for the Theatre. Mysteries. 
That of the Siege of Orleans. Mysteries at Nantes. 
The Cathedral. Expensive Visit to Orleans. Maison 
de la Suze. The Decree of the King i?iter dieting his 
Sale or Lticumbrance of Property. The increasing 
Demand for Money drives him to Magic in Search for 
the Philosopher's Stone and the Transmutation of base 
Metals into Gold. Magic. 

THERE are but two known portraits of 
Gilles de Retz. That in the palace at Ver- 
sailles is purely imaginative, and was only made 
to complete the series of the Marshals of France. 
It is not known by whom or at what time the 
other was made. In 1438, Gilles was thirty- 
five years old, tall, handsome, and well formed. 

24 



Gilles at Home 25 

He showed in his face, figure, and in every 
movement, his pride and spirit. He had a 
high, rather than broad, forehead ; his nose 
was prominent and sHghtly aquiHne ; the nostrils 
were large and thin, and, on occasions of anger, 
spread and quivered in an interesting and 
threatening manner. His lips were rather 
thin but well coloured, and had a tinge of del- 
icate and refined sensuality. 

Like many of the Breton race, his com- 
plexion was fair, his eyes large and blue, and 
his eyebrows and lashes long and black. His 
hair was also long and black, and beard the 
same. It was soft and silky, and with its raven 
blackness became shiny, giving it a tinge of 
blue-black, which may have served as a found- 
ation for his pseudonym in that country. 
His neck was neither too short, too long, nor 
yet too large, but seemed a column full of 
nervous strength, calculated to support solidly 
and well his head and brain, with whatever of 
pride, audacity, and confidence it might have. 
His shoulders were square, his body long, his 
waist small, while the bust and hips were large 
and fairly placed upon the muscular legs, 
which stood straight under him, giving his 
body firm support. His fingers were long 



26 Bluebeard 

and tapering, his hands small, and their fair 
complexion, when brought in contact with his 
velvet costume and lace ruffles, showed them 
to good advantage. Thus, he had the phys- 
ical appearance of an athlete trained in all the 
exercises of the body ; of much strength, a good 
walker, a good rider, and capable of any feat 
at arms. 

Michelet {Hist, de France, vol. v., pp. 208— 
213) describes Gilles as of '''bon entendinent, belle 
perso7ine et bonne f agon, lettr^ de phis, et apprd- 
ciantfort ce qui parlaient avec iUgance la langue 
latine." 

Lemire says (p. 39) that Gilles, when he ap- 
peared before the Court, was dressed in panta- 
loons, skin-tight, after the fashion of the day, 
and shirt and vest, all of white wool, with 
boots also white. Over this was a doublet of 
pearl-grey silk embroidered with gold, with a 
hood of ermine ; a sash of scarlet about his 
waist which supported a poniard with red 
velvet scabbard. He wore his military and 
seigniorial medals and orders, and about his 
neck a chain of gold with a reliquary. From 
the latter he never parted. 

How much of this description is actual and 
how much imaginary will probably never be 



Gilles at Home 27 

known ; but In the attractiveness of his person 
and manner, Gilles de Retz compared with the 
best of his race in that country, and the fore- 
going might have been a fairly truthful repre- 
sentation. He seems the model of a gentleman 
of his time ; his life being divided between the 
chase, war, and his adventures. He had 
beauty, force, riches, and occupied the highest 
rank among the nobility of his province. To 
him, nature and fortune had been blindly 
prodigal in their gifts. 

On Gilles's return from service in the army 
of France, after the murder of Joan of Arc, he 
retired to his chateau, dwelling alternately at 
Machecoul and Tiffauges, with an occasional 
visit to his Hotel de la Suze in Nantes. He 
engaged in no serious business, but apparently 
resigned himself to domestic pleasures and hap- 
piness. He established himself in a princely 
fashion. The interiors of his chateaux were 
decorated in the most magnificent and luxuri- 
ous manner possible. He maintained a small 
army, the members of which were in his own 
pay. He was passionately fond of music ; he 
purchased instruments and organised all sorts 
of musical competitions and displays. He es- 
tablished a religious hierarchy, having as a 



28 Bluebeard 

member of his own household a pseudo bishop 
with a large retinue, and all the necessary par- 
aphernalia, including rich vestments for his 
servants and expensive decorations for his 
chapels. 

This luxurious, magnificent, expensive mode 
of living was carried on for so long a time, in- 
creasing to such an alarming extent, that his 
brother Rene presented a memoir or petition 
to the King, called in history Memoires des 
Heritiers, wherein these expenditures and ex- 
travagances were set forth at as great length 
and with as much detail and redundant phrase 
as though it were a bill in equity. This me- 
moir ended with the prayer that the King 
should pass a decree against Gilles, interdict- 
ing him from making sale, transfer, or aliena- 
tion, or mortgaging or pledging any of his 
property. This process is not unknown to 
French law. Without having the law of 
primogeniture as in England, the heirs yet 
had certain rights which, consequent upon the 
death of Gilles, would accrue to them under 
the law of France^ and thus it was that the 
King was prayed to take the necessary steps 
for the protection of the rights of the heirs. 
In this proceeding his brother, Rene de la 



Gilles at Home 29 

Suze, seems to have been the principal and 
moving spirit, ahhough he was afterwards 
aided and abetted by his cousin, Guy de 
Laval. 

From the Mdmoires des Hdritiers we get a 
knowledge of the property of Gilles de Retz. 
The list of his lands, possessions, and income, 
with his family ancestry, through which he 
received them, was as follows : 

From the house of Rais, left by Joan la 
Sage, first the title of Baron and then the 
rank of Dean of Barons in the duchy of Brit- 
tany, with its chateaux and dependencies in 
great number, of which the principal only are 
named — Machecoul, Saint - Etienne -de - Mer- 
Morte, Pornic, Prin9ay (or Prince), Vue, He 
de Bouin, etc. 

From the house of Montmorency-Laval, the 
original ancestry of his father, — independent of 
his adoption by Joan la Sage, — the seigniories 
of Blaison, of Chemille, of Fontaine-Milon, 
and of Grattecuisse in Anjou ; of Ambrieres, 
Saint - Aubin -de - Fosse - Louvain, province of 
Maine ; and others in Brittany. 

From the house of Craon, through his 
grandfather and his mother, the Hotel de la 
Suze at Nantes ; the seigniories and chateaux 



30 Bluebeard 

of Briollay, Champtoce, and Ingrandes, pro- 
vince of Anjou ; of Seneche, Loroux-Botereau, 
Benate, Bourgneuf-en-Rais, Voulte, and others. 

From his wife, on their marriage, Tiffauges, 
Pouzauges, Chabanais, Confolens, Chateau- 
morant, Savenay, Lombert, Grez-sur-Maine, 
with '■'' plusiers autres t err es fort belles, et leurs 
dependencies y 

The value of this immense property has 
been estimated at four and a half millions of 
francs, though this may be exaggerated. His 
personal property was valued at one time at a 
hundred thousand golden crowns, and his in- 
come was variously estimated from thirty to 
sixty thousand pounds per annum. 

It was alleged that he had made sales and 
transfers of property in an improvident manner 
and to an unjustifiable extent, dissipating to 
that extent his patrimony, to the damage of his 
estate and the detriment of his heirs. These 
were given somewhat in detail in the MdmoireSy 
etc., viz. : 

To Gauthier de Brussac, Captain-at-arms, the towns 
and seigniories of Confolens, Chabanais, Chateaumorant, 
and Lombert ; 

To Jean de Marsille, the chatellenie, land, and seign- 
iorie of Fontaine-Milon in Anjou ; 



Gilles at Home 31 

To Messire William de la Juineliere, the chateau and 
lands of Blaison, of Chemille, in Anjou ; 

To Hardouin de Bueil, Bishop of Angers, the land 
and seigniory of Grattecuisse, the chatellenie and cha- 
teau of Saveny, half the forest of Brecilien ; 

To Messire Guy de la Roche-Guyon, the chateau and 
lands of Motte-Achard, and of Mauriere, in Poitou ; 

To Jean Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes (who was soon 
to be his judge), the chateau and lands of Prigne, of 
Vue, Bois-aux-Treaux in the parish of Saint-Michel- 
Seneche, and un grand nombre de terres situ^s dans le clos 
du pays de Rais pour une somme ^norme ; 

To William de Fresniere and Guillemot le Cesne, 
merchants of Angers, the lands and seigniories of Am- 
brieres, Saint-Aubin-de-Fosse-Louvain in the province 
of Maine ; 

To Jean de Montecler, one of his men-at-arms, and to 
Guillemot le Cesne, aforesaid, the lands and seigniories 
of Voulte and Sen^che ; 

To Jean Rabateau, president of the parliament, the 
lands and seigniories of d'Auzence, de Clone, and de 
Lignon ; 

To William (apothecary at Poitiers), Jean Ambert, and 
Jacques de I'Epine, the lands Brueil-Mangon-lez- 
Poitiers; 

To Georges Tremoille, late favourite of the king, now 
in retirement, twelve hundred " reaux " of gold on the 
rents of Champtoc^, to pay interest money on twelve 
thousand " reaux " of gold formerly borrowed from him ; 

To Perrinet Pain, bourgeois and merchant of Angers, 
much interest money on loans secured on his lands and 
seigniories ; 



32 Bluebeard 

To the Chapter of Notre Dame, Nantes, his superb 
Hotel de la Suze ; 

To Jean le Ferron, Saint Etienne-de-Mer-Morte, etc., 
etc., etc. 

During some period, most likely in his 
younger days and before his services in the 
army, Gilles de Retz became enamoured of 
the theatre. His taste in this luxury was in 
the same extravagant style as the chapels, the 
bishop, and his religious secretaries. 

There have been many histories of the theatre 
and the drama in France written by French his- 
torians. Histoire dtc T/iMtre en France, Paris, 
1 88 1, two volumes. Monsieur Petit de Julle- 
ville ; Histoire de la SocidtS Frangaise au Moyen 
Age, Paris, 1880, by Monsieur Rosi^res ; Mise 
671 Scene des My sttres, Paris, 1885, by ^- Paulin, 
Paris ; Le Draine Chrdtien, by M. Marius Se- 
pet ; Tableau de la Litter ature au Moyen Age, 
by M. Villemain ; Histoire du Thddtre Fran- 
fais, Paris, 1 745 to 1 749, fifteen volumes, by les 
Freres Parfaict ; Dictionnaire du XIX""' Siecle, 
by La Rousse ; and there may be many others, 
but with them all, our understanding of the 
extravagance and expenditure, and the conse- 
quent elegance and richness attained by thea- 
tres in France during the period in which we 



Gilles at Home 33 

are now interested, would be incomplete with- 
out a study of the life of Gilles de Retz. His 
love for the theatre manifested itself not sim- 
ply in looking at the spectacle and hearing the 
play, but in organising, arranging, and present- 
ing the plays of the time in theatres estab- 
lished and conducted by himself. Some of 
these presentations were in his own chateaux, 
but others were given in the neighbouring 
cities — Nantes, Angers, Blois, Orleans, and 
minor places in the provinces of Brittany, 
Maine, Anjou, Touraine, and Poitou. 

One cause of his indulgence in theatrical 
display appears to have been the desire to 
make himself popular with the people. That 
he loved the theatre and its plays, and that 
they gave him pleasure, is not to be doubted, 
but after all, it is supposed that his ambition 
to shine among the people formed the real 
foundation. 

The theatre had always been intended as a 
means of amusement. An attempt was made 
in France and the Latin countries during the 
fifteenth century, to combine in the theatre 
instruction of a religious kind with pleasure 
and amusement. This attempt was fostered 
bytithe clergy, and, in its execution, theatrical 



34 Bluebeard 

plays were performed in sundry chapels and 
sanctuaries. Whether the Passion Play at 
Oberammergau is a revival or continuation of 
this custom, is suggested but not decided. 
But such plays were common enough in the 
fifteenth century and met with favour in the 
Church. In its origin, this departure was ex- 
clusively religious, and was adopted by the 
Church as an ingenious and original continua- 
tion of the education of the people in the mys- 
teries of the Christian religion. Originally, it 
employed only sacred topics, and used only 
terms taken from the ritual, or from the Bible, 
and was altogether in prose Latin. 

With the lapse of time, the imagination of 
authors, and the progress of popular language, 
theatrical representations passed from the 
chapels and holy places to the public places, 
and the Latin language was superseded by the 
vulgar. The priests who had conducted the 
play gave way to laymen, and the liturgy of 
the drama was superseded by other composi- 
tions. While religious scenes were continued 
and religious thoughts were the principal inspi- 
ration, yet there came interruptions and lapses. 
Secular and historic pieces were put upon the 
boards. These were occasionally fixed to- 



Gilles at Home 35 

gether and played, 'first one and then another; 
without attempt at regularity or continuation, 
as we in the present day may have everything 
from tragedy tb farce in the sime season at the 
same theatre. In the fifteenth century the 
favourite representations were the "Mysteries " 
and next the " Moralities," and after these, 
dramas and farces. The former were religious 
or historic dramas, calculated as much for re- 
ligious or historical instrtiction and entertain- 
ment as for pleasure and amusement. The 
Last Judgment, the Birth of Christ, the Bap- 
tism in Jordan, the Marriage in Cana, and 
other Mysteries in the life of Christ were pre- 
sented, usually on holy days, at Christmas, 
Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost. ' Iri 
not a few cases the theatre was in the open 
air, and this custom has been kept up in Brit- 
tany and certain provinces in France to the 
present day. While there are regular theatre 
halls in the cities, yet throughout the country 
are travelling troupes of mountebanks, jug- 
glers, conjurers, etc., with trained dogs and 
other animals, who, arriving at a small town in 
the afternoon, pitch their tents upon the mar- 
ket-place or any other open square which cart 
be secured, advertise the play by beating of 



36 Bluebeard 

drums or ringing of bells, charge one sou for 
a stand-up admission, and two sous for admis- 
sion and a seat. The stage is made by unroll- 
ing a strip of carpet upon the ground or 
pavement. And here will be performed the 
sublime tragedy, the touching drama, and the 
roaring farce. 

In the fifteenth century the plays, especially 
the Mysteries, whether religious or historic, 
were elaborate and extensive. The scene of 
the play varied according to its necessity and 
so was changed from town to country, from 
open street to walled town, the audience and 
actors being moved with it, as in certain an- 
cient Greek theatres. An immense amount 
of decoration was required, which, however, 
was not usually a painted canvas stretched 
upon a frame, representing the desired object ; 
but these scenes were made of the real thing, 
and the decoration, especially of the streets, 
and walls about, were of hangings, usually of 
tapestry, though in cases of need any gaily 
coloured stuffs, like coverlets, bed-spreads, 
table-cloths, or carpets would be pressed into 
service. This custom exists in Brittany to the 
present day. The author well remembers one 
of the holy days in August, 1882, when, visit- 



Gilles at Home z"] 

ing the village of Savenay near Nantes, which 
by chance was one of the seigniories of Gilles 
de Retz, he witnessed the decoration of the 
village. The well-to-do residents brought out 
their tapestries and hung them along the fronts 
of their houses and garden walls ; the poorer 
people, their carpets and coverlets, or anything 
which helped to make a gay appearance ; 
while in one particular residence a bolt of 
white cotton cloth was brought out and 
stretched along the wall, covering it for a 
distance of fifty or sixty yards. This kind 
of decoration is not uncommon, and even in 
Nantes and Angers a greater amount of tapes- 
try may be seen on a single holy day than 
otherwise during a year's residence. 

Where required by the action of the drama, 
the scenes were built in the fashion of scaf- 
folds. In the Mystery of the Creation the 
lower scaffold represented the earth, while the 
second or upper represented the heavens. In 
the Last Judgment and the Resurrection it 
consisted of two great scaffolds, making three 
stories one above another, the upper one of 
which represented Paradise, with God upon 
His throne, the Virgin, the Christ, the angels ; 
all the holy things. The middle stage repre- 



.38 , Bluebeard 

seated the earth with the mortals engaged in 
.their everyday duties ; while the lower one 
r.epreseated Sheol with the Prince of Darkness 
. in command, and the demons, small and great, 
engaged in their supposed task of keeping up 
, the fires and of stirring up the spirits of the 
damned. . The description of all this inter- 
ests us in its relation to Gilles de Retz only 
because of its extravagance and immense 
expenditure. 

, The historic Mystery was also a favourite. 
The Mystery of the Siege of Orleans appears 
to have been the most popular and the most 
frequently played. But there were others : 
the Passion of Metz, the Mystery of Paris, 
that of Saint. Michel of Angers, of Saint Barbe* 
Gilles de Retz organised, equipped, and pre- 
sented no less than ten of these Mysteries. 
They were long, too ;.the Moralities contained 
.about twelve hundred verses ; while the Mys- 
teries had many thousand verses, that of the 
Siege of Orleans having twenty thousand five 
.hundred and twenty-nine lines; and they not 
■infrequently required an entire day in the 
performance. The presence and aid of five 
hundred persons were required on some of 
.these grand occasions. 



Gilles at Home 39 

One of the first paragraphs in the chapter 
on the extravagant and ruinous folly of Gilles 
in the Mdmoire des Hdritiers, tells that the 
establishment, organisation, and equipment of 
these theatres and the performance of the 
plays was at the expense of Gilles. The suc- 
ceeding paragraphs enlarge upon his immense 
and ruinous expenditures in this regard. The 
decoration, apparel, apparatus, the costumes 
of all the actors, were ordered by him. He 
required the best of everything, while the 
question of expense or even of value seemed 
as nothing. When he wanted them, he wanted 
them, and they were purchased at the asking 
price. Each person had his special costume 
according to his role and dignity ; the beggar, 
the varlet, the huntsman, as well as the soldier, 
knight, and noble, the fair ladies, the saints in 
heaven, were all accoutred and equipped with 
stuffs of such richness as would magnify the 
greatness and power of the author and owner 
of it all, and gratify his inordinate ambition. 
Gold, silver, velvet, precious stones, rich arm- 
our, luxurious harness, fine embroidery, silken 
stuff, satin, and all the marvels of art in pro- 
fusion. When the ornaments of the Church 
were required in any scene or play, there were 



40 Bluebeard 

copes, chasubles, dalmatics, albs, and all the 
ecclesiastical robes so rich and sumptuous. 
His ecclesiastical paraphernalia was at the 
command of the theatre. 

The follies and ambition of Gilles not only 
required his theatrical costumes and property 
to be of the richest and most expensive stuffs, 
but in his maladministration they were bought 
at highest prices, payment frequently made 
with promises greatly increasing their cost. 
With all this, his pride was such that he never 
permitted the same dress to be worn twice ; 
everything was required to be made anew for 
each representation, or for each series of repre- 
sentations. New costumes seem to have been 
his particular fad in that day, so that he could 
use the same terms which now appear in the 
playbills of the city — " entirely new and elegant 
costumes." Having been once used, they were 
thrown aside or sold at whatever could be got- 
ten for them. This meant to buy at the high- 
est price and sell at the lowest, a system 
which we well know produces financial ruin. 
His ambition and desire to please led him into 
foolish and useless expenditures. All his the- 
atres and the plays rendered by him were free ; 
the people who attended paid nothing. Gilles 



Gilles at Home 41 

paid the expenses of the entire entertainment. 
Consequently, one can easily understand the 
statements made in the Memoirs of the ruin 
wrought by these representations, the cost of 
each one being thirty, forty, and fifty thousand 
francs (six, eight, and ten thousand dollars). 

Gilles's favourite play was the Mystery of 
the Siege of Orleans. Here he was not only 
actor but principal. It was a drama in verse 
though not in rhyme. It was based upon the 
events of that memorable siege. Quicherat 
says of it that its historic value is nil, not be- 
cause the author has removed it from the 
domain of history, but for the contrary reason, 
that he was quite too near, both in space and 
time, to the events as they happened, and was, 
therefore, unable to take the role of historian, 
and make deductions. He could not form 
conclusions, nor announce principles : all that 
he did was to recount the actions and events 
as they happened day by day. He was a 
recorder, not an historian. The drama or poem 
was largely romance ; while recounting the 
daily progress of the siege, it was not a verit- 
able or trustworthy journal thereof. The 
words put into the mouths of the various actors 
were probably never spoken by them, certainly 



42 Bluebeard 

never were heard by the author. But they 
were the speech of the day ; they were news 
gathered at the time and which might have 
appeared in the daily newspapers, if such 
thinofs had then existed. It is because of their 
nearness to the events that they are not his- 
tory. How long the Mystery of the Siege of 
Orleans continued to be represented in the 
theatre as a drama is immaterial. 

One hundred and forty personages have 
been introduced upon the stage, not counting 
the groups of soldiers, peasants, citizens, mu- 
sicians, etc. The Marshal de Retz figured in 
it as one of the prominent actors, in close rela- 
tion to the King and to Joan of Arc. Not 
only is his name mentioned, but he himself 
had a speaking part and was present on the 
stage. Naturally he would take his own part 
and appear under his own name in the play ; 
and this was both a compliment to his courage 
and ability as a soldier, and his versatility as 
an artist. While it kept him constantly before 
the people, it gave him an opportunity to 
gratify his ambition. It is useless to give any 
description of it, for it is simply the represen- 
tation of the siege of Orleans written by one 
who, while he did not copy the journal, had it 



Gilles at Home 43 

utider his hand while writinor the drama. Be- 
cause it is in verse, it will not be practicable to 
translate much or any of it, but a few para- 
graphs will be given in which Gilles de Retz 
figured, and will be inserted (Appendix C) for 
the purpose of bringing out his part. 

A description of one of these Mysteries 
has been given us by Monsieur Paul Sauniere. 
Its presentation took place in the Place Notre 
Dame before the Cathedral at Nantes, on May 
21, 1439, under the direction, and at the ex- 
pense, of Gilles de Retz. It was the Mystery 
of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Virgin 
Mary. It was written by a young poet, Jean 
Lanoe, and Gilles de Retz is reported to 
have paid him the sum of ten golden crowns. 
Whether the story told by Sauniere is absolute 
verity, is of slight consequence. There can 
be little doubt that it represents truthfully the 
custom of the period relating to such spec- 
tacles, and is a fair description thereof. Much 
of it is recognised as in accordance with habits 
and customs of that country in the present day. 

All public proclamations and announcements 
by official authority in the provinces are made 
through the aid of either trumpet or drum, 
but in Brittany with the trumpet. The herald 



44 Bluebeard 

or other officer, when making an official sale, 
begins generally at the City Hall, makes the 
round of the city, sounding his trumpet at 
prominent places, calling the people together 
to hear his announcement, which he makes 
viva voce, and so passes on to the next place, 
repeating the performance. Lost children are 
cried in the same way, except that when done 
by a private individual a bell is used. 

In the present case, the herald-at-arms was 
richly dressed in the livery of his master, the 
Baron de Retz, accompanied by a guard of 
four soldiers, or men-at-arms, who escorted him 
and kept the crowd at a distance while he 
blew a call on his trumpet ; and then he made 
his announcement, which is given as follows : 

" We, noble and powerful Baron, Gilles de Retz, Mar- 
shal of France, Lord of Champtoce, Tiffauges, Mache- 
coul, Saint Etienne-de-Mer-Morte, Pornic, and other 
places, do by these presents make known, that by the 
express permission of the high and powerful Lord 
Seignieur, Jean de Malestroit, by the Grace of God and 
the Holy Father, the Bishop of Nantes, there will be 
given on the 21st day of the present month, at two 
o'clock afternoon, at the Place of Notre Dame, a presen- 
tation of a Mystery concerning the life of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, and of Madam, the Holy Virgin, 
His Mother." 



Gilles at Home 45 

When the herald ceased, the soldiers closed 
up the circle that had been made around him 
and prepared to escort him to another place, 
while the crowd cried, " Liesse, Liesse, to the 
Marshal — Liesse to our Lord Bishop ! " The 
herald and his men-at-arms departed and the 
crowd dispersed. 

The locality of the presentation of this spec- 
tacle adjoined the cathedral on its right as one 
stands facing it. This Mystery had but a 
single scene, and required but a single stage. 
This stage, intended for the use of the actors, 
was flanked on either side by an alcove or 
balcony ; that on the left, intended for the high 
dignitaries of the Church and the city, the 
nobles, and other persons of distinction was 
decorated with long and heavy curtains of blue 
velvet bordered with gold, the upper portion 
thereof being provided with rings to slide upon 
a curtain rod, by which means the occupants 
of the alcove could be cut off from the view of 
the multitude. This balcony bore the arms of 
the archbishop and those of the city of Nantes. 
The balcony on the opposite side of the alcove 
was arranged with curtains in the same way, 
but it was draped with red velvet decorated 
with a border of white velvet and gold braid 



4^ Bluebeard 

and tassels. This balcony bore two coats of 
arms, both belonging to the Baron de Retz — 
one was the house of Retz itself, gold with 
croix de sable ; the other, that of Machecoul, 
trois chevrons de gtietiles S2ir le champ d 'argent. 
The staee for the actors formed the centre of 
the alcove, but was brought to the front to 
enable the populace to see it, and was deco- 
rated with red velvet bearing the coat of arms 
of the city of Nantes. 

As the hour for the spectacle approaches, 
the crowd gathers in the place, and soon it is 
a mass of people, bourgeoisie and peasantry, 
most of them wearing the peculiar costumes of 
the country. 

The archbishop with his suite could reach 
his balcony by a private way. The Baron de 
Retz occupied his hotel called Maison de la 
Suze in the Rue Notre Dame. This Maison de 
la Suze has been destroyed, and no representa- 
tion of it is in existence. There are, however, 
many other of the ancient streets lined on either 
side with houses belonging, if not to that precise 
epoch, to the one immediately following, and 
as such may here be given with propriety as 
presenting a reasonably faithful idea of the 
city. Many of these houses are historic and 




A street in Nantes — Ancient houses. 



Gilles at Home 47 

have been occupied by persons of renown and 
distinction. Similar houses are to be seen in 
other towns of Brittany — Vannes, Quimper, 
Angers, Laval, Dinan. These houses are 
usually built of frames of wood with great 
beams and posts as shown, and not infre- 
quently the principal beams across the front 
of the house bear a carved inscription. The 
author has seen these in Vannes and Auray, 
of which the following are samples : 

PAX HVNC DOMVN ET OMNIBUS HABITAN IRVS 
IN EA ICI JAN rOLLIART MA FAICT FAIRE LAN 
1560. 

AV NOM DE DIEV, DIEV SOICT EN MES AFFAIRES. 
YVES LEKME ET PERRINE LEBAR SA COMPAGNE 
ONT FAICT FAIRE SE LOGIS EN IVING I 565. 

Returning to the spectacle of the Mystery : 
The Baron de Retz passes out from his great 
double gates or doors which form the entrance 
to his Maison de la Suze, accompanied by his 
guards of honour, whose glittering armour re- 
flects brilliantly the rays of the sun. With their 
halberts, they press back the crowd to make 
way for the Baron and his suite. By his side, 
and within easy reach, walks one of his men- 
at-arms, holding a casque upturned, more or 



48 Bluebeard 

less filled with coined money, of which the 
Baron occasionally takes a handful and scatters 
among the crowd, first on one side and then 
on the other. Arrived at the balcony intended 
for him, the guards of honour open their ranks, 
press back the crowd, take their station at the 
foot of the steps and along the front of the bal- 
cony, while the Baron, accompanied by his 
suite, among which were his chapel, as it is 
called, comprising his bishop and some thirty 
ecclesiastics of divers names and functions, 
mount the balcony and take their places, the 
Baron, of course, at the front and centre. It 
is said that his display of church and ecclesias- 
tical dignitaries was unwarranted, that it had 
never been authorised by the Pope, that his 
Bishop had no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, nor 
was he lawfully entitled to perform the func- 
tions or support the dignity, and it was also 
said that his appearance in this character had 
always irritated, if it did not anger the Bishop 
of Nantes. 

The description of this spectacle has not 
been preserved to us, though, as with the Mys- 
tery of Orleans, of which a few copies of the 
libretto have been preserved, this spectacle 
at Nantes excited the populace and aroused 



Gilles at Home 49 

their enthusiasm, to which they gave vent with 
cries of joy and great huzzas. The dignitaries 
were present with many of their suite, in gor- 
geous dress and costumes, their men-at-arms 
with casque and cuirass, Damascene steel and 
shining halbert and scabbard. Their coats-of- 
mail were fire-gih, and covered them from waist 
to knees ; gloves and boots of red leather com- 
pleted a brilliant and striking costume. The 
prelates, on the other hand, with their magnifi- 
cent official robes of scarlet and gold and silver, 
with the curtains and hangings of such royal 
magnificence, all served as a background for 
the play of the Mystery which, being of the 
Infant Jesus and the Virgin Mary, excited the 
deep-seated religious fervour and enthusiasm 
of the people. They manifested their joy and 
enthusiasm in the usual way of crowds, but the 
principal share was devoted to the Baron de 
Retz. This was the pleasure reserved for 
him ; this was the compensation for his great 
expenditure. It gratified his ambition, tickled 
his vanity, gave him pleasure, justified his ex- 
penditure, confirmed his extravagant habits, 
and led him farther in the course which ended 
in his ruin. 

It would scarcely be possible at this late 



50 Bluebeard 

date, to obtain a more complete report of the 
prodigalities of Gilles de Retz than is furnished 
by the M^moires des Hdritiers, which, as it was 
sufficient for the King, should be sufficient for 
us ; but there will occasionally crop out of the 
historical desert of this ancient time a record 
which, by giving information on a particular 
subject, lifts the veil from his life and gives us 
glimpses into certain extravagances, whereby 
we may imagine the result. One of these, 
lately found among the archives at Orleans, 
and contributed by M. Doinel, is a memoran- 
dum of a visit of Gilles to that city from 
September, 1434, to August, 1435. -^^ "^^^ 
accompanied by his suite and retinue, military 
and ecclesiastic. His brother, Rene de la 
Suze, was with him, which was the only time 
they are shown to have been together, and, 
curiously enough, it must have been while the 
Mdmoires des Hdritiers, if not already pre- 
sented, were being prepared, or at least con- 
templated ; for the decree of the King was 
published within the next two years ; yet no 
mention is made therein of Rene's presence 
on this trip. 

Arrived at Orleans, Gilles de Retz installed 
himself, with his personal adjutants, at the 



Gilles at Home 51 

Hotel Croix d'Or (Golden Cross), while his 
suite and high officers with their respective ret- 
inues, were installed at the other hotels, until, 
as the minute says, there was not a hotel in all 
Orleans but was occupied, if not filled, by him 
or by the officers and men of his suite. His 
*' college," that is, the ecclesiastics, twenty-five 
or thirty persons, were installed at the Ecu 
(Crown) de Saint Georges ; the choir and their 
leader at the Enseigne de VEpde (Sign of the 
Sword) ; his armourer. Hector Broisset, at the 
Coupe ; his brother, Rene de la Suze, at the 
Petit SauTfion (Little Salmon) ; his councillors, 
Gilles de Sille, Guy de Bonniere, Guyot de 
Chambrays, Guillaume Tardif, and Guy de 
Blanchfort, with his captain of the guard, Loys 
I'Angevin, at the Grand Saumon (Great Sal- 
mon) ; his chevaliers, Monseignieurs de Mar- 
tigne, Foulques Blasmes, Jean de Rains, and 
Bauleis, at the Image de Saijite Marie Madel- 
eine ; Jean de Montecler, with Colin le Godelier ; 
his Rais le herault (herald) and suite, with men- 
at-arms, at the Tite Noire ; his chariots and 
horses, with those of his brother Rene, at 
the Roche-Boulet ; the vicar of the chapel, the 
priest Le Blond and his barber, and the horses 
of the "college" at V Enseigne du Fourbisseur ; 



52 Bluebeard 

the Seignleur Jean de Veille, Bois-Roulier, his 
provost, George the trumpeter, at the house 
of Jeannette la Pionne ; Thomas his enlu7nin- 
eur, at le Dieu d' Amour (God of Love) ; while 
men-at-arms, servants, lackeys, and followers, 
occupied the Cheval Blanc (White Horse), 
r Homme Sauvage (Savage Man), and I Ecu 
d' Orleans (the Crown of Orleans). 

While at Orleans, in 1434, he made thence, 
during the autumn, a trip to the Bourbonnais 
country, stopping for a time at Montlucon, at 
the hotel I'Ecu (Crown) de France. When 
his hotel bill for eight hundred and ten reaux 
dor was presented, he could pay only four 
hundred and ninety-five, and his two servitors, 
Jean de Sellier and Huet de Villarceau, be- 
came his guarantors of payment. Everything 
during the trip was at his expense. They all 
travelled on horseback, unless it was some high 
dignitary or quelque m^alade (sick) who had a 
chariot. Horses and all expenditures were 
furnished by him, and preparing for such a trip, 
everybody was provided with new, striking, 
and, consequently, expensive costumes, suitable 
for the suite of such a rich and puissant Baron. 

On his return to Brittany in August, 1435, 
it was found that his travels during the year 



Gilles at Home 53 

had cost the round sum of eighty thousand 
golden crowns. The Mdmoires say this trip 
left a train of " devoured revenues, lands sold, 
seigniories mortgaged, works of art and valua- 
bles hypothecated, with considerable debts and 
unpaid loans trls ondreux, which menaced ruin 
and opened an abyss threatening to engulf 
everything." 

Among the records found at Orleans was 
one which, made under the circumstances re- 
lating to his expenses and financial condition, 
throws a strong side-light on his character, 
bringing out the recklessly spendthrift side of 
it, and would go a long way towards justify- 
ing the King's decree of the interdiction of the 
sale and mortgage of any property, which, it is 
not to be forgotten, shortly followed this visit 
to Orleans, 

This paper, prepared by Gilles, provided : 

" Saturday, xxvi day of March, MCCCCXXXIIII (1435 
N.S,). The noble and puissant lord. Monsieur Gilles, 
Seignior of Retz, Count of Brienne, Lord of Champtoce 
and Pouzauges, Marshal of France, has lately, for the 
good of his soul, and looking to our Lord Jesus Christ, 
on behalf of himself, his late father, mother, relatives 
and friends, all sinners, made a foundation in memory of 
the Holy Innocents^ at Machecoul in Rais, Duchy of 
Erittany." 



54 Bluebeard 

By this paper he appoints a full corps of 
priests, ** vicar, dean, archdeacon, treasurer, 
canons, chapter, and college " ; for the support 
and maintenance of this establishment he gives 
in trust, in due and formal language, to the 
King of Sicily and Duke of Anjou his castle 
and chdtellenie of Champtoce, and to the Duke 
of Brittany one-half the Barony and lands of 
Rais. He confirmed this gift before notaries 
named. He declared the two princes named 
should act as his trustees ; and, providing for 
their possible refusal to act, he names respect- 
ively, and in succession, as future trustees, the 
King, the Emperor, the Pope ; in case they 
all refuse, the lands shall be divided between 
the knights of the Orders of Saint John and 
of Saint Lazare. 

All the Princes named refused, and each, as 
far as he could, interdicted and prohibited 
Gilles from carrying out his project. It ac- 
cordingly fell through. Yet, at the moment 
of his establishing this priestly organisation, he 
was engaged, as we shall see farther on, in the 
commission of the most horrible and unnatural 
of crimes, for which he was, before the end of 
the decade, to be ignominiously executed. 

His Maison de la Suze has been described. 



Gilles at Home 55 

whether actually or only from similar houses 
of the epoch, is now impossible to tell ; but it 
is said to have eclipsed, in its luxury and taste, 
the palace of the Dukes of Brittany. It was 
ornamented and decorated to a high degree. 
All countries were laid under tribute to fur- 
nish riches for its decoration : Italy for its 
painting and sculpture, Spain for its Cordovan 
leather, Flanders for its tapestry, Venice and 
Bohemia for their crystals and glassware, the 
Orient for its magnificent stuffs, and Persia for 
its tiles 2indi faience ; while, without doubt, the 
ceramics of his own and neighbouring provinces, 
like Tours, Orleans, Gien, Quimper, and Poitou 
(the latter the forerunner of Limoges), were re- 
presented in the luxurious fittings of the houses 
and chateaux of Gilles, the Baron de Retz. 

The Mdmoire des Hdritiers, setting forth the 
extravagant and ruinous expenditures by which 
the principal of the estate was being dissipated, 
was duly presented to the King and the neces- 
sary proof offered to establish its allegations. 
The date is not given, but it should have been 
about 1432-33. In 1435-36, the King, having 
become satisfied of the truth of the matters 
alleged, through his Council of State and by 
letters patent, issued his decree of prohibition 



56 Bluebeard 

against the alienation or incumbrance by Gilles 
de Retz of any of his lands or seigniories. 
This decree has been preserved to us in Gue- 
pin's Histoire de Nantes, pp. 1 31-133. 

The Decree of Interdiction by the King, 
against the sale and incumbrance of his prop- 
erty commences with a description of the 
various noble families from which Gilles de 
Retz had descended ; his titles, his property, 
baronies, chateaux, seigniories, his marriage, 
the properties of his wife — that is to say, 
Pouzauges, Tiffauges, Chabenais, Confolens, 
Chateau-Morant, Savenay, Lombert, Grez-sur- 
Maine, and other beautiful properties, the 
rental value of which amounted to six or seven 
thousand livres (pounds, about three hundred 
thousand francs, actual value) ; that from his 
said marriage, he derived also personal prop- 
erty of the value of one hundred thousand 
golden crowns ; that he held In Grosses Baron- 
ies thirty thousand livres of true domains ; that 
from his office of Marshal of France he re- 
ceived grand salary and pension from the 
King, with numerous gratuities ; so that he 
had a yearly income of forty or fifty thousand 
livres or more. The said Gilles, after the de- 
cease of his father, took the administration of 



Gilles at Home 57 

his estate to himself and used it according to 
his pleasure ; he established himself in an es- 
tate grander than that to which he really 
belonged ; kept two hundred horsemen, main- 
tained a chapel of singers in his chateau num- 
bering twenty-five or thirty persons, chaplain, 
clerks, children, and others ; these were taken 
with him when he travelled ; and in all things 
he managed his affairs so as to have in 
his chateau, because of the said chapel, more 
than fifty men or persons at his expense, 
and as many horses ; he had also in said 
chapel a great quantity or number of orna- 
ments, cloth of gold, silk, chandeliers and 
censoirs, crosses, plates, dishes, etc. ; these 
were of such sumptuosity that they cost three 
times more than their value ; he had sev- 
eral organs, one of which, carried by six 
men, was taken with him wherever he went ; 
he often purchased cloth-of-gold at sixty or 
eighty crowns per aune (ell) when it was not 
worth more than twenty-five, and a pair of 
*' orfrays " (embroidered cloth of gold) at three 
or four hundred crowns, when they were not 
worth more than one hundred ; he kept in 
the said chapel a dean, choir-leader, or sing- 
ing-master, an archdeacon, vicar, schoolmas- 



58 Bluebeard 

ter, etc., as in the cathedral, and one of these 
priests or officers he undertook to establish 
and treat as a bishop ; he paid to some of 
these four hundred crowns, and to others three 
hundred ; he dressed them in robes with scar- 
let trains trimmed with plush and fur, with 
fine hats ; all were kept and served with the 
most costly and expensive viands ; the serv- 
ice of all these so-called priests (holy men) 
was nothing but vanity, without devotion and 
in defiance of good order. The said Gilles 
sent on several occasions to the Pope in the 
endeavour to obtain permission or authority 
that his choristers, or leaders, should be mitred 
as prelates, or like the canons of the church at 
Lyons. He made excessive gifts in wine, 
viands, and hypocras, to all who desired to eat or 
drink, keeping open house for that purpose, 
and those who had the government of his af- 
fairs lived like great lords ; while the common- 
ers frequently had naught, ni boire ni manger^ 
when they came to table. 

He played games, farces, morisques, and, on 
occasion, he performed the Mysteries of Pente- 
cost and Ascension, on high scaffolds under 
which were hypocras and strong wines, as in a 
cave. 



Gilles at Home 59 

The said Gilles constituted one of his famil- 
iars, Roger de Briqueville, as his procureur, 
agent, or attorney-in-fact, empowered to marry 
his daughter, Marie, at a time when she was 
only four or five years of age, to whatever man 
should seem good to the said de Briqueville, 
against the custom prevailing in the country 
to marry the daughters, issue of such high 
nobility, only with the assent of their parents 
and friends. He took it into his head to deal 
in alchemy, hoping thus to obtain the Philoso- 
pher's Stone ; sent to Germany and to differ- 
ent countries in search of the masters of this 
art, and brought to his chateau Monsieur Anth. 
of Palermo, making, with him, outrageous ex- 
penses from which no one derived any profit ; 
in all of which things he acted without sense 
or understanding, and in a foolish, if not crazy, 
manner. It is found that he sold and alien- 
ated certain lands (describing them). 

For these reasons, the King, being fully in- 
formed and having fully ascertained of the 
evil government of the said Sieur de Retz, 
through his Grand Council, issued his inter- 
diction and prohibition against any aliena- 
tion, transfer, mortgage, or pledge, by the said 
Gilles de Retz, of any of his lands or seigniories. 



6o Bluebeard 

The King enjoined upon his Parliament the 
duty of carrying this decree of interdiction 
into effect ; and under severe penalties, he for- 
bade any captains, guards, tenants, or persons 
in charge, from attorning or delivering up to 
any stranger (to the title) any chateau or fort- 
ress of Gilles de Retz until Parliament should 
so order. 

This decree was published " at the sound 
of the trumpet " at the principal places con- 
cerned — Orleans, Tours, Angers, Champtoce, 
Pouzauges, Tiffauges, Saint-Jean-d'Angely, 
and other places. The Duke of Brittany re- 
fused to accept, register, or publish the decree, 
and it was in vain that the ^'femme, parents, et 
les a7nis " of Gilles solicited him. It is alleged 
that this was to enable the Duke to take 
advantage of the necessities of Gilles, and 
purchase his lands at ruinous prices. He pur- 
chased some and took mortgages on others ; 
Champtoce, Bourgneuf, Benate, and Prin9ay 
or Prince, were mortgaged for the sum of 
100,000 crowns of gold, to be repaid within 
six years. In this way did Gilles, during these 
eight years of his life, dissipate the sum of 
deux cents mille dcus (200,000 crowns) of the 
heritage. 



Gilles at Home 6i 

The King's interdiction of the sale or mort- 
gage of any of his property aggravated Gilles's 
situation by increasing his difficulties in ob- 
taining money. He had no scruples about 
borrowing money of whomsoever he could, and 
if repayment could be put off a sufficient 
length of time, would promise the return of it 
doubled or trebled, as the creditor demanded. 
The situation must have been irritating to 
Gilles, and doubtless proved his incentive to 
magic, by which he hoped to discover the Phi- 
losopher's Stone, and, thereby, the means of 
converting the baser metals into gold. What- 
ever he may have done, or thought, in this 
direction prior to the passing of the decree, it 
seems that later he entered into closer relation 
with the alchemist and magician, and sought 
to study and practise the " black art " to a 
greater degree than he ever had done before. 

From this on, we have to treat Gilles as a 
changed man, not only in his conduct, but in 
his character and desires. He separated from 
his wife, but established her in the chateau of 
Champtoce, while he installed himself with his 
retinue, including his magician, in the two 
chateaux, one at Machecoul, which he had 
received from his father, Guy de Laval, but 



62 Bluebeard 

principally at Tiffauges, which he had received 
from his wife. Here we have to treat of him 
no longer as a soldier, or as a noble of France, 
but in his character of magician, necromancer, 
debtor, robber, murderer. 

Under these circumstances what course was 
Gilles to pursue, and what could he do to re- 
trieve his fallen fortunes ? He required money, 
he was spending more than his income ; he 
was selling off his property and reducing his 
principal in the vain attempt to liquidate his 
debts and provide for his present expenses. 
He did not have strength of character to 
adopt a rigorous reduction of expenses and 
live on a moderate and conservative plan ; 
indeed, such would hardly have been natural. 
The great man of a neighbourhood, who, hav- 
ing been entrusted with large sums of money ; 
or the banker or trader who, being deeply in- 
debted, endeavours to restore his broken fort- 
unes by retrenchment of expenditures, only 
precipitates the catastrophe he seeks to avert. 
The ostensibly rich man who proposes to 
make himself better able to meet the demands 
of his business by disposing of his horses 
and carriage, closing up his houses, selling 
his yacht, giving fewer entertainments to his 



Gilles at Home 



63 



friends, instead of proving himself successful 
and inviting confidence in his ability to pull 
through, will prove the architect of his own 
doom. Therefore, what was Gilles de Retz 
to do ? What he did, was to rely upon the 
success of his scheme for the discovery of the 
Philosopher's Stone, in the hope to thus re- 
plenish his empty coffers. 




CHAPTER IV 

GiLLEs's Crimes 

Gilles's Abduction of Children — Jlis Familiars — Chdteau 
Tiffauges — First Process against Gilles — Warrant — • 
Arrest and Imprisonment — Chdteau de Nantes. 

BEGINNING in the year 1432, a district 
comprising a large portion of western 
France, including the southern part of the 
Province of Brittany, the western part of the 
Province of Maine, and the northern part of 
the Province of Poitou, became excited by an 
undefined fear which, increased by its un- 
certainty and vagueness, produced in the 
people a feeling akin to terror. It was not 
the fear of war, for the people had had an in- 
timate acquaintance with war for many years ; 
nor was it the fear of an epidemic nor of sud- 
den death ; and it was not easy to tell with 
exactness what it was. It was so indefinite 

64 



Gilles's Crimes 65 

that belief in it was at first refused. It was 
considered by many to be the result of super- 
stition ; some declared it to be something of 
the vampire race which by some sort of re- 
surrection had chanored its horrible character 
so that it did not wait to prey upon the dead, 
but made its attacks upon the living, choosing 
young children and maidens, and timing the 
place and manner of attack so that not only 
was there no defence, but there was also no 
opportunity for pursuit or recovery. 

Michelet {Histoire de France) describes it as 
a beast of extermination, unseen, unknown, 
unnatural, indescribable, invisible, supernatu- 
ral, omnipresent, possessed of powers of dis- 
appearance on the instant, and so of escape, 
dissolving into thin air. It was believed by 
many to be a physical manifestation of the 
Evil One. It made its appearance in one 
place on one day and at another place the 
next day, and at a distant place the next ; it 
was here to-night and far away in the morn- 
ing ; it ravaged the country, spreading terror, 
and leaving in its track not simply fear and 
mourning, but the torture of insanity and 
death. There was a mixture of enchantment, 
of impossibility, about the performance which 



66 Bluebeard 

left it to be accounted for only upon the 
principle of legerdemain, magic, the black art, 
and the presence of the devil. On all sides, 
right and left, east and west, north and south, 
within this terror-stricken district, sometimes 
each day for a week, sometimes not again for 
a month, then not for three, and again not for 
six months or more, but subject to these in- 
tervals, came the story from one section to the 
other, of the disappearance, as though by en- 
chantment, of a child or children of tender age. 
No apparent distinction of sex was made, but 
the subjects of attack were always young, say 
from six to sixteen years ; old enough to go 
about the farm or from one farm to another, 
possibly from one village to another, when, 
without warning, apparently without cause, 
without the slightest evidence as to the means 
used, and without leaving the slightest trace of 
the tragedy, suddenly a child was gone. No 
one knew or could find in what direction it had 
gone, or how it had been taken. All that the 
terror-stricken parents and family knew was 
that their child was here to-day, and now he or 
she was not — it was playing about the door 
only a half-hour since ; now it was gone, gone 
as completely as though swallowed by the earth. 



Gilles's Crimes 67 

No one knew where the blow would fall next ; 
no one knew whether his family circle was to 
be invaded, his house stricken, his child taken. 
Every care and watchfulness was employed, 
consultations were had between the stricken 
parents, the officers of the law were consulted, 
and all that was known — apparently all that 
could be discovered — was that their children 
were here yesterday, engaged in their little 
plays or about their own little duties around 
the house or on the farm, and in a moment, 
though the most rigorous and extensive search 
was made, they were gone — gone absolutely, 
gone beyond possibility of recovery, gone in 
numbers, gone from every part of the dis- 
trict mentioned, and no sign or trace left of 
their fate. Fear, fright, terror, took posses- 
sion of all, and this, mixed with sorrow and 
grief, broke many a heart, sent many a loving 
mother in insanity to the grave. The peasants 
who, by reason of their age and strength sup- 
posed themselves to be safe, walked lightly, 
as though afraid to put their feet upon the 
ground ; spoke in low voices as if afraid to 
trust themselves in ordinary tones, and every- 
thing throughout the country was done with 
bated breath as if in the presence of the dead. 



68 Bluebeard 

The peasants, superstitious at the best of 
times, were now overcome with fear and gave 
themselves up a prey to the idea of enchant- 
ment and magic, and could only account for the 
disappearance of their loved ones by the pre- 
sence of the arch-enemy of mankind, against 
whom they had no means of fighting, and 
whose assaults upon their devoted children 
they had no means of resisting. The fright- 
ened parents were tortured by the uncertainty 
of the fate that had overcome their loved ones. 
" Are they dead ? " " Have they been taken to 
the realms above or to the tortures below ? " 
" Are they in prison ? " " Are they still liv- 
ing?" "Are they never to be seen again?" 
" Might they not be in a distant part of the 
country enduring pains and tortures ? " " Might 
they not, even now, be weeping and scream- 
ing themselves half mad and demanding the 
presence and comfort of their mother ? " 
•'In what direction should we go?" "Has 
nobody seen them?" "Has search been 
made?" " In what direction have we yet to 
go?" No answer came to all these questions. 
The fate of the children was an impenetrable 
mystery. 

Did the parents recover from it ? Yes, 



Gilles's Crimes 69 

they became accustomed to it. Human nature 
can become accustomed to anything. Their 
fate seemed better, not because it was better, 
but because, not getting- worse, they got used 
to it and were able to stand it better. The 
first theory upon which the people settled was 
that the disappearance of their children was 
due to fairies, to evil genii, to a supernatural 
and mysterious enemy — that this mysterious 
enemy was supernatural, they did not doubt. 
This belief served to increase the pangs of their 
grief and to render the unknown and undiscov- 
erable fate of their beloved ones more horrible 
to contemplate and more difficult for the par- 
ents to bear. They felt themselves incapable 
and incompetent to war against this mysterious, 
devastating, supernatural force ; hence they re- 
signed themselves to the affliction, considering 
it to have been sent upon them by Almighty 
God as a punishment for their sins. They did 
not know what sins they had committed, but 
felt sure that nothing they had done would 
justify even Almighty God in the abduction 
of the little ones who had not been at fault, 
and the torture of the parents incident thereto ; 
so they rebelled against their fate. 

The disappearance of children did not at 



70 Bluebeard 

first create great excitement among the people ; 
their disappearance was explained in a natural 
manner : some accident had happened to them, 
possibly they had fallen into one of the many 
rivers and were drowned ; the lakes and rivers 
were plentiful, their waters deep, their cur- 
rents swift, the banks steep. One child here 
in one province, another child there in a distant 
province — such a disappearance did not count 
for much and did not unduly or wonderfully 
excite the people ; but when it came to spread 
over the entire country and, by the compar- 
ison and the overlapping of searches and the 
employment of officers, it was discovered that 
this beast of extermination, this great, power- 
ful, mysterious, supernatural visitor or power, 
was making itself felt throughout the entire 
country, and that no house was safe, that no 
parent could say with certainty that his own 
child might not be taken next morning — then 
the country became excited, alarmed, and, 
finally, terror-stricken. 

At last it became apparent that these ravages 
were confined to a given district, a circle of 
country approximately bounded by the present 
cities of Vannes, Rennes, Angers, La Rochelle, 
and so opening to the ocean. Of this circle, 



Gilles's Crimes 71 

Nantes was approximately the centre. This 
condition continued, growing more acute 
year by year. Each year new famiHes were 
stricken, and the terror became more widely 
spread. 

A man of the character and ambitions of 
Gilles de Retz would naturally have about him 
a corps of men to assist in carrying out his 
nefarious courses. They would necessarily be 
without fear and without conscience, adepts in 
secrecy and deceit, with the instincts and abili- 
ties of detectives and ready to obey any be- 
hest of their master. Gilles had such a corps 
of lieutenants ; most of them were Bretons as 
he was, thoroughly acquainted with the coun- 
try, most of them lowly born, many of them 
illegitimate and strongly suspected to have 
had fathers of higher birth than their mothers. 
Gilles made choice of these familiars from 
among his retinue, selecting those best quali- 
fied to carry out his projects and to be his 
right hand in executing his plans. 

The names of some of these have been pre- 
served to us in the process against Gilles : 
Eustache Blanchet, Henriet Griart, Jean Rous- 
signol, Gilles de Sille, Hugues de Bremont, 
Etienne Corrillaut {alias Poitou), Robin 



72 Bluebeard 

Romulart, and one woman, Perrine Martin, 
alias La Meffraye. These performed for Gllles 
the role of secretary, aide-de-camp, assistants, 
guards, spies, or servants, as occasion de- 
manded, and became identified in the minds 
of the peasants as servants and representatives 
of Gilles de Retz. They spent practically 
their lifetime in his service, and toward the 
end of their career they came to be feared 
throughout the countryside as much as Gilles 
himself. Indeed, it was their actions which 
first attracted public attention towards him. 
It came to be noted that when infant or child 
had disappeared, some of these had been seen 
in the neighbourhood ; and when all things 
pertaining thereto were so mysterious, the 
people stood ready to catch at any straw which 
might serve as a possible solution. The wiser 
persons, who were not so superstitious and did 
not attribute this disappearance of children to 
supernatural causes, but rather to the action 
of fiends, discovered and remarked the co- 
incidence of the presence of some one of these 
with the disappearance of an infant. The at- 
tention of the ofificers was turned in his direc- 
tion, and certain suggestions or suspicions 
were given to the Bishop of Nantes, who 



Gilles's Crimes "jz 

thereupon determined to open a secret inquest 
for the solution of the mystery. By this means 
the matter was brought to Hght. 

The most prominent and powerful of these 
familiars of Gilles de Retz was an Italian 
priest and alchemist, Francois Prelati. He oc- 
cupied a position different from the others. One 
of the before-mentioned familiars, Eustache 
Blanchet, a soi-disant priest, belonging to his 
ecclesiastical retinue, appears to have been 
better acquainted with the private affairs of 
Gilles de Retz than any other, and to have 
been entrusted with higher powers, and sent 
oftener on journeys of diplomacy and confid- 
ential business. For what purpose he should 
have been sent to Italy can now only be sur- 
mised ; but in the year 1436, while in Florence, 
he met Fran9ois Prelati. His history has been 
given by Sauniere, but no one knows how 
much of it is fact and how much romance. It 
appears, however, that Prelati was born in 
Mont Catane in the Valle Nero ; that he was 
educated as an ecclesiastic, admitted to orders, 
and given the tonsure by the Bishop of Arezzo. 
He became interested in the study of the oc- 
cult sciences, especially chemistry or, as it was 
then called, alchemy ; and his love for this 



74 Bluebeard 

science overcame his desire for ecclesiastical 
service. 

He was about forty-five years of age when 
he became acquainted with Gilles de Retz ; 
was well bred, highly educated, of elegant 
manners, handsome in appearance, well kept 
and cleanly in person, devoting much care to 
the welfare of his hair, beard, and hands, all 
of which repaid and showed the attention be- 
stowed upon them. He was a good conversa- 
tionalist, of smooth, insinuating, and seductive 
manner. He spoke Latin as well as he did 
Italian ; his French was excellent, probably 
better than that of Gilles or the Bretons with 
whom he associated, while a slightly broken 
pronunciation conspired to make it more at- 
tractive. He had a brilliant and sparkling wit 
and an active imagination, was well posted in 
the affairs of the world, and attractive to his 
fellows, whether men of letters, men of affairs, 
or des hommes de guerre. The description 
given of him would indicate his appearance to 
have been that of an elegant gentleman. It 
goes without saying that he was learned as 
an alchemist and expert as a necromancer. 
Such was Fran9ois Prelati, the man who had 
been brought by Eustache Blanchet from Italy 



Gilles's Crimes 75 

to France to teach Gilles de Retz the black 
art. 

Gilles, during this period, occupied alter- 
nately, according to his pleasure, the two cha- 
teaux of Machecoul and Tiffauges. The latter 
is situated to the north of the village of Tif- 
fauges and, according to tradition, occupies 
the site of an ancient Roman camp and is 
about 15 kilometres south of Clisson and 40 
south of Nantes. The chateau occupies an 
elevated plateau which forms a promontory be- 
tween the junction of the creek Crume with 
the river Sevre, both of which bathed the foot 
of the walls on either side. The latter con- 
tinues its way northward and empties into the 
Loire below Nantes. The chateau was a castle 
covering space enough for a city. It is now in 
ruins, except the grand tower and adjacent 
halls. The walls may be traced by the debris 
in rows of stones now covered with sod and 
grass. It was attacked and burned during the 
religious wars of the sixteenth century, but its 
present ruinous condition began with the 
breaking-out of the Revolution in 1 789. The 
Vendeans, after gaining the battle of Torfou, 
occupied it, having repaired it sufficiently to 
afford shelter and to make it a place of defence. 



76 Bluebeard 

It remained in a fairly good condition until the 
return of Napoleon from Elba, when it was 
again occupied as a recruiting-place, or place 
of security by the Vendeans. After the battle 
of Waterloo and the restoration of Louis 
XVIII., fearing some further use of it by ene- 
mies, the government destroyed it, reducing it 
.to its present condition. The lowlands in the 
neighbourhood are marshy and almost become 
lakes. The lake of Grand Lieu is not far dis- 
tant, and others are in the vicinity. 

The ruins are interesting and the debris is 
easily recognised. One with a slight know- 
ledo^e of the arrano^ement can trace the walls 
of the structure, as well as the triple cincture 
of fortifications surrounding it. These are 
now covered with sod and green grass and 
used for pasturage, while the level places, like 
the courts within the castle and the parade- 
ground within the lines of fortification, are 
subjected to cultivation. The chateau of Tif- 
fauges was partially built in the time of Saint 
Louis ; the grand tower now remaining is said 
to belong to that epoch ; the large tower, the 
small tower, the chapel, the great hall wherein 
the Baron presided over his retainers or, if 
need be, received such lords and seigniors as 



Gilles's Crimes 'j^ 

came to visit him ; the dining-room, kitchen, 
scullery, with all their necessary appurtenances 
of cellar, storehouse, warehouses, well-room, 
were all in evidence ; bedrooms, halls, parlours, 
etc., were prepared in abundance for the recep- 
tion of lords, ladies, and all who might attend 
upon the occasion of a ball or fete. On an- 
other side of the courtyard, but adjoining the 
main building, was a shorter wing, large enough 
to lodge his knights, men-at-arms, soldiers, 
servants, varlets, etc. It was, in these regards, 
similar to most other extensive castles or cha- 
teaux, and can be compared to the chateau of 
Nantes where Gilles was tried and convicted. 
(See frontispiece.) 

The Chateau Tiffauges was a favourite resi- 
dence of Gilles de Retz ; it was a stronghold, 
in which, if need be, he could have great 
security and, in case of war or attack, could 
make a good defence. It was large and com- 
modious. Here it was that Gilles de Retz and 
Fran9ois Prelati, the Italian, had their labor- 
atory in which they endeavoured, first by al- 
chemy, then by magic, and lastly by murder, 
to discover the Elixir of Eternal Youth and 
the transmutation of metals into gold. Here 
took place the attempt to obtain a conference 



78 Bluebeard 

with the Evil One, with the idea of obtaining 
his supposed influence in their sublunary affairs. 

A description of this laboratory has been 
left us. The chamber was high up in the 
tower, with communicating passages in various 
directions, — to the large tower and also to the 
basement and, as is said, to the oubliettes and 
the secret passageway to the Crume and so 
outside the chateau. The laboratory occupied 
the full diameter of the tower; an immense 
chimney was on one side of the room, in which 
was placed the furnace where the multilated 
bodies of many of the dead infants were con- 
sumed. The chamber had but two windows, 
one to the north the other to the south, both 
high up in the wall, both capable of being 
closed and darkened by solid shutters. 

Lemire says (p. 27) : 

" In the highest chamber of the small tower, he [Gilles] 
had installed a chemical [alchemy] laboratory and there 
employed his three sorcerers, one French, one English 
or Picardian, and one Italian " ; 

And he describes with minutest detail the 
apparatus employed (p. 28) : 

"What Gilles desired was that Prelati should make 
gold, whether by science, by magic, by the intervention 



Gilles's Crimes 79 

of the devil, or by these means united. He attempted the 
transmutation of metals into gold. He distilled into 
retorts different liquids destined to dissolve the mineral 
substances after certain formulas of magic repeated under 
the invocation of demons. Prelati declared to Gilles 
that to make these operations successful required the 
addition of the hearts, hands, or eyes, but above all the 
blood, of young children. The blood was to be used in 
tracing the magic circles and figures." 

Lemire believes (p. 30) that Prelati em- 
ployed the secrets of chemical art, sulphur and 
phosphorus and similar substances, in forming 
fiery serpents to deceive Gilles : 

"Frogs and serpents, inoffensive but frightful in 
appearance, a leopard which was naught else than a 
large dog with bristling hair, cries of beasts, groans, 
sounds of trumpets ; these were the apparatus em- 
ployed in the scenes of invocation." 

Then he tells (p. 31) how, to furnish victims 
for these magicians, Gilles carried on his abduc- 
tion of children, choosing the little peasants 
who would not be missed, or whose parents 
would not be likely, from poverty, to pursue 
the search. 

Apparently the first step, at least the first 
step made public, against Gilles de Retz, charg- 
ing him with crime, and the first paper form- 
ing part of the ecclesiastical record in the 



So Bluebeard 

archives of the Department of Loire-Inferieure, 
is the " Declaration of Infamy against Gilles 
de Retz by the Bishop of Nantes, July 30, 
1440." It was in Latin : 

" To all to whom these present letters shall come, 
Jean, by the permission of the holy apostolic see, Bishop 
of Nantes, with full assurance of salvation through our 
Lord and Saviour, salute those present : 

" We hereby make known by visiting in person the 
parish of the Holy Mary at Nantes, in which is built the 
house or chateau vulgarly called " la Suze," the frequent 
habitation of Gilles de Retz hereinafter described, a 
parishioner of this church and of other parish churches 
designated further on. Upon public rumour and on the 
numerous reports that have come upon us by the denun- 
ciatory clamour of Agatha, wife of Denis de la Mignon ; 
of Donate, widow of the defunct Regnaud Donete of St. 
Marie ; of Jean Guibert and his wife of St. Vincent ; of 
the widow Eonnet Kerguen of St. Croix, Nantes ; of 
Jeanne, wife of Jean Darell of St. Similien near Nantes ; 
of Theophanie, wife of Eonnet le Charpentier of St 
Clement outside the walls ; fortified by the depositions 
of the synodical witnesses of these churches and by 
men who, thanks to their probity and their well known 
prudence, are above suspicion, and who, in the course of 
our pastoral visit in the same churches, we ourselves 
have interrogated with the greatest care upon the facts 
below indicated, or of still others pertaining to the duty 
of the bishop in his pastoral visits, we have discovered, 
and the depositions of the witnesses have proved to us, 
among other things, that Gilles de Retz, our subject and 



Gilles's Crimes 8i 

justiciable, by himself or by certain men his accomplices, 
has strangled, killed, and inhumanly massacred a very 
large number of infants ; that he has committed upon 
them crimes against nature ; that he has made, or has 
caused to be made, numerous horrible invocations of 
demons ; he has made to them sacrifices and offerings, 
and has passed a compact with them, without counting 
other crimes, numerous and enormous, all of which be- 
long within our jurisdiction ; and, finally, by several 
other visits made by us or by the Commissary acting in 
our name, we know that Gilles de Retz has perpetrated 
and committed these crimes and still others, within the 
limits of our diocese. 

"For which cause he was, and is now, and publicly 
for the knowledge of all, rendered infamous towards all 
grave and honest men. And to the end that no person 
shall have doubt upon this subject, we have ordained, or 
fixed, or caused to be fixed, our seal to these present 
letters. 

" Given at Nantes, the day before the last of July, in 
the year of our Lord, 1440. 

" By the command of Monseignior, Bishop of Nantes. 

(Signed) " J. Petit." 

It does not appear that this declaration of 
infamy was ever made known to Gilles de 
Retz. It was made by the Bishop of Nantes 
in accordance with his ecclesiastical rigfht and 
duty. It had, from early Christian times, been 
the duty of the bishops of the Church to make 
episcopal visits throughout their respective 

6 



82 Bluebeard 

dioceses. By the capitularies of Charlemagne 
and Carloman, it became the bishop's right, if 
not his duty, to listen to any complaints of the 
common people. This was in the nature of an 
inquest by church authority into the crimes of 
high or powerful persons, or into public scandals 
which were without other rectification. The 
proceeding might be likened to an ecclesias- 
tical grand jury. It was, like that of the grand 
jury, a secret inquest, inquisitio famcs^ and in 
this particular instance, establishing the infamy 
of Gilles, it opened against him the inquisitory 
proceeding according to the rule : Inquisztzonem 
debet clamosa insinuatio prc^venire. This declar- 
ation of infamy, made by the bishop and based 
upon the complaints he had received and scan- 
dals he had heard during his episcopal visit, was 
the beginning of the prosecution against Gilles. 
The secret investigation doubtless continued 
and culminated in the citation of the Bishop 
to Gilles de Retz, September 13th, to appear 
on September 19th, and answer the charges. 
After the preamble and declarations of the 
requisite power and authority, and his know- 
ledge of the crimes of Gilles and of the public 
clamour, called in the official document hurle- 
ments uliUantium, the bishop proceeds : 



Gilles's Crimes 83 

" For these causes we will no longer hide the monstrous 
things, nor will we allow heresy to develop itself, that 
heresy which, like a cancer, devours everything if it is 
not promptly extirpated even to the last root. Farther 
than that, we would apply a remedy as prompt as it is 
efficacious. Therefore we enjoin you, all and singular, 
and to those of you in particular to whom the present 
letter shall come, immediately and in a definite manner, 
each for himself and without counting on the other, 
without depending upon the care of any other, to cite 
before us, or before the official of our cathedral church, 
on Monday, the fete-day of the Exaltation of the 
True Cross, September 19, Gilles, as aforesaid desig- 
nated the Baron of Retz, to submit to our authority and 
to accept our jurisdiction ; we ourselves cite him by 
these letters to appear before our bar to respond to the 
crimes that are laid upon him. Execute, therefore, 
these orders, you, and each of you, and every one of 
you, cause them to be executed. 

" Given at Nantes on Tuesday, the 13th of September, 
in the year of our Lord, 1440. 

" By the command of the Bishop of Nantes, 

(Signed) " Jean Guiole," 

Whether the Bishop of Nantes had, in his 
official capacity, already established a perman- 
ent ecclesiastical court for the trial of such 
cases as might properly be brought before it, 
does not appear ; nor whether he had the 
necessary paraphernalia of officers such as pro- 
secutors, clerks, record-keepers, and an execut- 



84 Bluebeard 

ive officer to serve processes, maintain order, 
etc., etc., as would be usual and necessary in all 
regularly established courts. So it is not known 
whether the executive officer charged with the 
service of this writ was a regular officer, or only 
one appointed for the occasion ; but it abun- 
dantly appears that one Robert Guillaumet, 
a notary of Nantes, received the writ for exe- 
cution, and that in this matter he acted as 
executive officer for the Bishop. 

Gilles de Retz was at that time at his chateau 
of Machecoul. Robert Guillaumet took to his 
aid Jean I'Abbe, a captain in the service of 
the Duke of Brittany, with a number of his 
troop, and together they repaired to Machecoul 
for the purpose of arresting Gilles on the war- 
rant of the Bishop. 

There has been some discussion over the 
part taken in the affair by the Duke of Brit- 
tany himself, and how far the proceeding met 
his approval, and how far he stood ready to 
give aid and assistance in carrying out the 
purpose of the Bishop. Michelet {Histoire de 
France, vol. v.) asserts that the Duke of Brit- 
tany was highly favourable to the accusation ; 
that " he was delighted at the opportunity to 
thus strike at a Laval," and he ascribes this 



Gilles's Crimes 85 

to the fact that the Laval family, though re- 
lated to the Montforts, of which the Duke was 
one, had formed against him an opposition, 
the intention of which was to deliver Brittany 
to France. There can be but little doubt that 
the Duke of Brittany was entirely favourable 
to the Bishop — they were near relatives and 
good friends, they always had stood together, 
and though the Bishop never had had any 
dispute with Gilles de Retz, yet the Duke 
frequently had. 

The Duke had already foreseen the waning 
fortune of Gilles, and stood ready to profit 
by it. He had refused to make publication 
in Brittany of the decree of interdiction of the 
King, for the sake of the opportunity which 
might accrue to obtain good bargains in pur- 
chasing the property of Gilles. It is scarcely 
possible, dependent as he must have been upon 
the Duke and his government and the power 
and force of the secular arm for the execution 
of any decree that might be passed, that the 
Bishop of Nantes would proceed against so 
powerful a baron as Gilles, the dean of the 
nobility of Brittany, Marshal of France, and 
Lieutenant-General of the Duke's army, and 
enter upon an undertaking so gigantic, so 



86 Bluebeard 

fraught with danger, and so easy to miscarry,, 
without having first consulted with, and ob- 
tained the approval and favour of, his sovereign, 
with the promise of material assistance and 
governmental aid in case of need. This un- 
derstanding between the Bishop and the Duke 
is established by the outcome of the process. 
We see that in every step the Bishop not only 
received countenance and favour at the hands 
of the Duke, but that he could be relied upon 
to furnish the necessary strong arm for the 
execution of the Bishop's writs and decrees. 

Armed with the writ and warrant of arrest, 
Robert Guillaumet and Jean 1' Abbe proceeded 
to Machecoul with their troop of soldiers. 
What was their reception ? Would they be 
successful in their undertaking and bring the 
mighty Baron of Retz back to Nantes as 
prisoner ? Would he yield to the mandates of 
the law, obey the command of the Bishop, and 
surrender himself as prisoner? He had a cha- 
teau, a veritable stronghold, and he had his 
army of retainers within it — he could defy both 
Robert Guillaumet with his writ and Jean 
I'Abbe with his escort — but would he do so ? 
Would he resist or would he yield ? Michelet 
passes the highest encomiums upon this little 



Gilles's Crimes Sy 

band, whose intrepidity and courage he lauds 
as though it was leading a forlorn hope, for 
its devotion to duty in entering upon so 
dangerous a procedure as this arrest. There 
does not seem, however, to have been any rea- 
sonable apprehension of danger. If Gilles 
resisted arrest, he would simply remain within 
his castle, refuse to open his gate, and bid de- 
fiance to the officers. They would then return 
to Nantes and report their failure, and what 
would be done further was a matter for their 
superiors, the authorities of the kingdom. 

There may have been speculations as to 
what moved Gilles to surrender, and no one 
can tell with certainty what thus influenced 
him. He had three alternatives : resist arrest 
and fight it out with the authorities, drive back 
the officers and then flee the country, or sub- 
mit to arrest. To shut himself up in his castle 
and resist arrest would bring down the entire 
power of the kingdom, he would be excom- 
municated by the Church and besieged by the 
Duke's army — there was little prospect of suc- 
cess in that direction. Flight would be a con- 
fession of guilt, while he would have to leave 
everything behind — it would be practically im- 
possible for him to take his fortune or even 



88 Bluebeard 

any considerable amount of valuables with him, 
and he would soon become poverty-stricken 
and an outcast. It is more likely that he pur- 
sued the conservative course of submitting to 
arrest, trusting to his rank, fortune, power, and 
the law's failure to make proof against him, 
hoping by these to evade conviction. 

That he was technically guilty of both heresy 
and sacrilege there could be but little doubt, 
and it appears that he had greater fear of these 
charges than of the others. When he found 
these were not to be pressed, and that he was 
to be charged with the abduction of infants, 
he may have felt stronger in the knowledge 
that he had never personally committed these 
crimes, and that they could not be directly 
proved against him. It is to be remembered 
that these offences had been running for eight 
years ; that they had been committed in all 
parts of the country, always in isolated places, 
east, west, north, south ; and Gilles may have 
come to the conclusion, during the long series 
of years, that whatever might be proved against 
his accomplices and active agents, nothing 
could ever be proved against him. And now, as 
he must make a decision immediately upon 
the arrival of Robert Guillaumet with his war- 



Gilles's Crimes 89 

rant, Gilles may have felt that the shortest 
and easiest way was the best. Partly, then, 
from pride, from policy, from bravado, and in 
the belief that he would be able to defeat his 
adversaries in their proofs, he gave orders to 
lower the bridge, to raise the portcullis, and to 
open the gates of the castle. 

Submitting himself to arrest, he is reported 
to have said : " I have always had the design 
to become a monk, and here comes the Abbe to 
whom I now engage myself " {Proems Cdllbres : 
Paris, 1858, p. 14). Robert Guillaumet and 
Jean I'Abbe made search of the castle. Pre- 
lati, Poitou, and Henriet were arrested with 
Gilles at the chateau ; Blanchet was taken in 
the town ; but most of the retinue of Gilles 
escaped. Then the escort of Jean I'Abbd 
put themselves in order of march, guarding 
their prisoners. Arrived at the chateau of 
Nantes, the gates were opened, and Gilles de 
Retz, the dean of the barons of Brittany, Mar- 
shal of France, and his party, were conducted 
within its heavy walls as prisoners and male- 
factors. Gilles was assigned one of the upper 
chambers in the Tour Netive of the chateau, 
and here he remained during the trial, until the 
last day, when he was probably placed In the 



90 Bluebeard 

condemned cell. His accomplices were not 
treated with the same consideration, but were 
thrown pell-mell into the common prison of 
the castle. 

The chateau of Nantes (frontispiece) is 
really a castle and would be called such in 
England or in English-speaking countries. It 
was built by, and had always belonged to, the 
government, first to the Duke and afterward to 
the King. Its construction dates from the 
tenth century. It was commenced by Conan, 
a Count of Rennes, an usurper, who commenced 
the castle as a stronghold, by the possession 
of which he hoped to resist the lawful claimant 
of the duchy and overawe the inhabitants of 
the city. That portion called Tour Neuve 
was built at this epoch, situated at the con- 
fluence of the river Eure with the Loire, and 
the waters of each of these rivers originally 
bathed the foot of the walls. Conan did not 
long enjoy his possessions in Nantes ; he 
was attacked and overthrown, and Americ de 
Thouars took possession under the title of 
Count of Nantes. During this epoch was built 
the chateau of Champtoceau, which figured as 
the place of the capture of Clisson. 

In the year 1207, Guy de Thouars repaired 



Gilles's Crimes 91 

the chateau of Nantes, and in 1227, Pierre de 
Dreux enlarged it, and so it remained until 
the time of Francis II., when, under Du Cher- 
fan in 1480 to 1499, it was enlarged to its pre- 
sent dimensions. The bastion or Tour Mer- 
cceur, constructed in 1588 by the duke of that 
name, then Governor of Nantes, was situated 
at the angle of State Street and Port Mail- 
laird. It has been renewed and restored sun- 
dry times since then, but not to affect the 
integrity of the building as a whole. The 
Tour Neuve was the prison of Gilles de Retz, 
and in the second story was the grand hall or 
audience-chamber in which the ecclesiastical 
court was held. 

The chateau of Nantes has figured largely 
in the history of Brittany and France. It was 
the official residence of the Count of Nantes. 
The Duke of Brittany resided there when in 
the city. So also It was occupied by the 
kings of France and other great and noble 
personages during their passage through, or 
temporary residence in, the city. Charles 
VIII. and Duchess Anne were married in its 
chapel. The celebrated Edict of Nantes, 
issued by Henry IV., King of France, in 
April, 1598, by which the Protestants were 



92 



Bluebeard 



permitted to exercise their religion without 
hindrance, was passed and signed in this 
building. In 1654, the Cardinal of Retz (not 
to be confounded with Gilles de Retz) was a 
prisoner here, and thence made his escape. 
Minister Fouche was prisoner in this chateau ; 
Madam Sevigne was also held here in 1648 ; in 
1842, the Duchess of Berry was also prisoner 
in this chateau. 




CHAPTER V 

GiLLEs's Trial before the Ecclesiastical 
Tribunal 

The Ecclesiastical Tribunal — Record in the Archives 
of Loire- Inferieure — The Trial — His Confession — 
Judgtnent and Sentence. 

1"^HE ecclesiastical trial against Gilles de 
Retz was of course conducted by the 
Bishop. He was the representative of the 
Church in the diocese, and he alone had 
the authority to act. His name was Jean de 
Malestroit. He was originally Bishop at St. 
Brieuc, but had been Bishop of Nantes since 
14 1 9. He called, as his assistants in the trial, to 
aid by their counsel and advice, the Bishops of 
Mans, of St. Brieuc, and of Saint Lo, one of 
the officials of the Church at Nantes, and with 
them Pierre de 1' Hospital, President of the 
High Court of Brittany, and whose aid was 

93 



94 Bluebeard 

asked to represent the civil law and to direct 
the charges, the witnesses, and the debates in 
such manner that they should come within the 
civil law. Three of the notaries of Nantes 
were made clerks, with a foreign assistant. 
Robert Guillaumet was the executive officer, 
that is to say, the sheriff or bailiff of the court. 
The prosecuting officer appointed by the 
Bishop was William Chapeillon, the Cure of 
St. Nicholas at Nantes. 

It has been said that the Bishop, for a con- 
siderable length of time, had been receiving 
and hearing complaints and charges against 
Gilles de Retz, and that especially during the 
last month he had been investigating their 
truth. In this he was aided by the afore- 
said William Chapeillon, who would thus have 
been entirely familiar with the charges against 
Gilles de Retz. It was, therefore, eminently 
proper that he should be appointed prosecutor. 
Whether the Bishop had the full power under 
either the civil law or the ecclesiastical law, to 
make the foregoing appointments of colleagues 
on his own motion and according to his own 
will, is not here determined, nor does it appear, 
in making these appointments, whether the ac- 
cused was consulted or whether he gave his 



Gilles's Trial 95 

consent, nor does it appear that he either took 
or had the right to take exception to them or 
any of them and by such exception deprive 
them of the right to act in his case. As to one 
aid to the Bishop, Gilles's consent was asked and 
obtained before he was allowed to sit, that was 
Brother Jean Blouyn, of the Order of Frlres- 
Prhheurs at the Convent at Nantes. He had 
been appointed as Vice-Inquisitor for the dio- 
cese of Nantes by the authority of the Grand 
Inquisitor of France, B. N. Medici, who had 
been appointed to that office by the Pope. 
Great stress is laid, throughout the process 
wherever this appointment came in question, 
on the fact that Gilles de Retz had consented 
to it before the priest took his seat on the 
bench. Jean Blouyn was a man of about forty 
years of age, who seemed to have commended 
himself for his moderation in making a decis- 
ion, and for his firmness in adhering to it. 
Abbe Boussard classes him as digne de tout 
dloge et apprdcid de tout le inonde. 

Another tribunal represented the civil law, 
and it was by this that the secular sentence of 
execution was passed. 

In France, as in all countries under the civil 
or Roman law, and in some of the countries 



96 Bluebeard 

under the common law, there has been a sep- 
arate jurisdiction of certain offences for the 
ecclesiastical court. As a matter of course, 
and necessary for the continuance and good 
administration of justice, there would be some 
controversies of which these two courts would 
have concurrent jurisdiction. It is quite im- 
possible in such a work as the present to go 
into this question. Those who are interested 
in the subject are respectfully referred, for 
France, to the Histoire du droit cri77tinel en 
France (pp. 74 and 85) byDu Boys ; to Faustin- 
Helie's Traitd de r instruction criminelle ; For- 
nier's Les officialitds au moyen dge ; Esmien's 
Histoire de la procMure criminelle e7i France, 
et spdcialment de la procddtcre inquisitoriale de- 
puis le XIII""^ silcle jusqud nos jours (Paris, 
1882) ; and for the general criminal procedure 
and jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical tribunal, to 
Beiner's Beitrage zu der Geschichte der Inqiiisi- 
tion, prozesses (jp^. 16-78). For a general his- 
tory of these subjects as applied to England, 
one should consult the great work on the His- 
tory of Common Lazv, by Sir Henry Maine. 

The record of the process against Gilles de 
Retz in the archives of the Department of 
Loire Inferieure has been adverted to. We 



Gilles's Trial 97 

now come to a point where it is almost the en- 
tire evidence. It consists of the records of the 
two courts, one the ecclesiastical court, kept by 
the clerks before mentioned, and to which the 
names of some one or all of three are signed for 
each day, either Jean Delaunay, Jean Petit, Guil- 
laume Lesne, or Nicholas Giraud. This record, 
made each day, apparently was supervised and 
made official by the prosecutor, William Cha- 
peillon, and it seems that more than one copy 
was made of it at that time. This was in Latin, 
though French was interjected occasionally. 
The other record was of the civil tribunal, the 
record of the day's proceedings being reduced 
to writing and signed by Touscheronde as 
Commissioner of the civil court, or by one of 
his aids, or, as they call them, assesseurs, who 
signed, alternating with Touscheronde. Their 
names were, Nicholas Chatau, Michael Eveil- 
lard, and Jean Coppegorge. This record was 
kept in French, the vulgar tongue, and very 
bad French and a very vulgar tongue it was. 
It would be interesting to philologists to note 
the changes during the last five hundred and 
fifty years in the spelling and, doubtless, pro- 
nunciation of the words of the French lan- 
guage. 
7 



98 Bluebeard 

These two records of the trial, the ecclesiasti- 
cal and the civil, are treated as one, and their 
originals are filed together in the archives of 
the Department of Loire-Inferieure in the lo- 
cality designated as Cote E, 189. Four copies 
of this record have been made, two in the 
year 1530, one of which was at the request of 
Gilles de Laval, the other for the Sire de la 
Tremoille. The copy given to the family of 
Laval has disappeared and no trace of it is 
known ; the other for Tremoille was placed 
in the chateau of Thouars which, it is to be 
remembered, was the family name of the wife 
of Gilles de Retz. 

This copy has taken its name from this 
chateau and is known in history as the Manu- 
scrit de Thouars. It was left in this chateau 
until its existence was forgotten. When the 
chateau was bought by the State and became 
part of the national domain, all papers and 
documents belonging to the family were trans- 
ported to the chateau of Serrant in Anjou, of 
which one of the ladies of the family of Tre- 
moille was mistress. This copy of the record 
was in a pile of documents, tossed pell-mell 
and without order, and here Monsieur Marche- 
gay, the archivist of the Department of Maine- 



Gilles's Trial 99 

et-Loire, discovered it. The Duke de la Tre- 
moille immediately took steps for its pre- 
servation. This record was on parchment 
like the orginal, and comprises four hundred 
and twenty pages, of which three hundred and 
three, in Latin, are the record of the ecclesias- 
tical trial ; the last hundred and eight pages 
constitute the record of the civil tribunal, and 
are in French. 

Two other copies have been made in modern 
times, one for the Bibliotheque Nationale, 
Paris, made under the Second Empire, and 
one for the Public Library at Carpentras, 
both of which have been certified as true. 
The author procured a photograph of an open 
page from the original ecclesiastical record in 
the archives at Nantes. It was made on his 
personal application while he was Consul of 
the United States at Nantes. These records 
will be explained in this work, and upon their 
foundation rests the entire history of Gilles 
de Retz. Without this record or its copies, 
the true story of Bluebeard could not be 
written. 

Michel et {Histoire de France, vol. v., pp. 
208 et seq?), in his description of the arrest 
and trial of Gilles de Retz, depends on two 



loo Bluebeard 

manuscript copies which he mentions in a 
note ; one in the Bibliotheque Royale (No. 493 
F) — the other communicated to him by M. 
Louis Du Bois. 

The warrant of arrest of Gilles de Retz was 
signed by the Bishop on the 13th of Septem- 
ber, 1440, it was executed the next day, the 
14th, and on that day Gilles was thrown in 
prison. On the 19th, five days after, he was 
brought before the Bishop in the great hall of 
the Tour Neuve, in the chateau of Nantes. 
No information had been prepared, and no 
indictment filed. The prosecutor informed 
Gilles that he was charged with the crime of 
heresy and asked if he was willing to be tried 
before the ecclesiastical court, to which he con- 
sented, and added, with a defiant air full of 
assurance, that he would recognise in advance 
any other ecclesiastical judges, as he had great 
desire to clear himself of such accusation in 
the presence of any inquisitor, n importe le- 
quel. It was on this occasion that the Bishop 
of Nantes called to his aid as an auxiliary 
judge, Jean Blouyn of the Order of Freres- 
Pricheurs, the Vice-Inquisitor of the faith for 
the diocese of Nantes, and then, this business 
having been brought to a close, the session of 



Gilles's Trial loi 

the court was adjourned until the 28th of 
September, when the witnesses would be heard. 
The record of this session is rendered in 
Latin, a translation of which is here given : 

(Translation)' "Monday, September 19, 1440. 

^''Proces-verbal, appearance in court of Gilles de Retz and 
his submission to the jurisdiction of the Court. 

"On aforesaid Monday after aforesaid feast of the Ex- 
altation of the Holy Cross, there appeared personally in 
court before the afore-mentioned reverend Father the 
Lord Bishop of Nantes, in the great hall of the new 
tower of the castle of Nantes, to give hearing before the 
tribunal holding session there, the honourable Guiller- 
mus Chapiellon, promoter of cases of office of the afore- 
said court, reproducing in fact the letters of citation 
enclosed above, together with the enclosed execution of 
them, — there appeared this Chapeillon on the one hand, 
and on the other the aforesaid M. Egidius, soldier and 
baron, the accused. And this M. Egidius [Gilles], sol- 
dier and baron, after he in his wisdom had perceived 
that the promoter accused him of heresy, said that he 
wished to appear before the aforesaid reverend Father 
the Lord Bishop of Nantes, and some other ecclesiastical 
judges, also before the inquisitor for heretical wicked- 
ness, and to purge himself of the crimes laid against 
him. Then the aforesaid reverend Father appointed 
for the aforesaid Monsieur soldier and baron, who agreed 
in this, the 28th day of the aforesaid month to legiti- 

' The entire ecclesiatical record was written in Latin with an 
occasional interjection of French. 



I02 Bluebeard 

mately appear before the religious, the brother Jean 
Blouyn, the vicar of the inquisitor of cases of heretical 
wickedness, in the aforementioned place, to answer to 
the crimes and charges to be urged against him by the 
aforesaid promoter, . . . to be tried in things per- 
taining to faith, as is lawful and proper. . . . 

" In the presence of the distinguished men Master Oli- 
verio Solidi de Beauveron, and M. Johannis Durandi of 
Blain, rector of the parochial churches, of the diocese 
of Nantes, called as witness to the foregoing." 

The commission of Jean Blouyn as Vice- 
Inquisitor was written in Latin on parchment, 
to which was attached the great seal in red 
wax, which hung dangling by two silken cords. 
It was as follows : 

" William Merici, of the order of Friars Preachers, pro- 
fessor of Sacred Theology, by the apostolic authority 
Grand Inquisitor of Heresy in the Kingdom of France^ 
to our well-beloved brother in Jesus Christ, Jean Blouyn 
of the convent of our order in the city of Nantes, salva- 
tion by the author of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ : 

" Heresy, says the Apostle, is an evil that, if not cut 
up by the roots by the iron of the Inquisition, will pro- 
pagate itself as a cancer in secret, and in darkness bring 
death to the most simple soul. Thus, in order to pro- 
ceed in the interest of their own salvation against here- 
tics, their aiders and abettors, and the evil men, because 
of heresy or suspected of the crime, against those who 
oppose the Inquisition, or who restrict its free agency, 
it is necessary to proceed with great caution and rare 



Gilles's Trial 103 

prudence. We have fullest confidence in the Lord that 
you are endowed with a capacity, jurisdiction, and good 
will to exercise this high charge. For this reason, by 
the counsel of several of our brothers of which the wis- 
dom is recognised by all, we have made, established, and 
created to-day, and by these presents we do make, estab- 
lish, and create you in all forms and with all the condi- 
tions required by the law and the best authority which 
are in our hands, as our vicar in the city and diocese of 
Nantes. 

" By these letters, then, and by this concession, power 
is given to you against heretics and against the culpable 
persons above designated which may be there or other- 
wise. Also requests, citations, interviews, interroga- 
tions, you can take against all ; you can cause them to 
be retained prisoners and proceed against them in jus- 
tice in any manner that you may judge convenient, even 
including a definite sentence. You will have finally all 
that by custom or by law belong to the charge of Inquis- 
itors ; for in all this, as well as by the force of the com- 
mon law as by the grace of spiritual privileges enjoyed 
by the Inquisition, we give to you, as much as it is in all 
our power. 

" In testimony of which, we have set our hand and 
seal to these letters patent. 

(Signed) " G. Merici. 

" Done at Nantes July 25, 1426." 

This letter was read to Gilles, and he was 
asked if he recognised it. He declared ** No ! " 
It was submitted to, and proved by, the court, 
and was recognised as authentic and genuine, 



I04 Bluebeard 

and under its authority Brother Jean Blouyn 
was admitted to a seat upon the bench as re- 
presentative of the Holy Inquisition and as 
judge in the case, aid to the Bishop. 

The session of October nth was ended, and 
Gilles led back to prison. 

On Wednesday the judges met, not in the 
great audience chamber, but in the hall below, 
aula bassa. It was, and is, the custom in the 
prosecution of criminal cases to have the in- 
vestigation of the witnesses before either the 
court or some high officer of justice prior to 
the public or official trial. In this investigation 
the procedure corresponds in some degree to 
that of our grand jury, or more properly before 
the prosecuting attorney as well as the presid- 
ing judge. The inquests made by the Bishop 
of Nantes, and with him his present prosecut- 
ing attorney, William Chapeillon, during the 
summer preceding, had been secret, the wit- 
nesses having been called up separately and 
examined privately ; but on this occasion the 
session was open, at least to all witnesses, and, 
as Michelet describes them, 

" a cloud of witnesses, poor people, came up single 
file, crying and sobbing while they recounted the details 
of the abduction of their children. Their cries and 



Gilles's Trial 105 

tears added to the horror of the crimes which they re- 
counted and showed the great sorrow and grief to which 
they had been subjected, and the terrors through which 
they had passed." 

The following is a record of this session, 
and the depositions of the witnesses heard : 

" Wednesday, September 28, 1440. 
^^Proch-verbal de rdception des plaintes. 

" The register in the case and cases of faith, in the pre- 
sence of the Reverend Father in Christ, lord Jean de 
Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes, and of brother Jean Blouyn, 
vicar of Father Guillermus Merici, the inquisitor men- 
tioned below, against M. Egidius (Gilles) de Rays, 
soldier, lord, and baron of the same place, under accus- 
ation. 

" In the name of the Lord, Amen. 

" In the year of the Lord 1440, on Wednesday, Septem- 
ber 28, in the third indiction, in the tenth year of the 
pontificate of our most holy Father in Christ and Lord 
Eugenius IV,, Pope by divine providence, and during the 
session of the council of Basle, there appeared before 
. . , the lord bishop Johannes de Malestroit, . . . 
and brother Johannes de Blouyn, . . . vicar of 
Guillermus Merici, the inquisitor in matters of heret- 
ical wickedness, . . . and before their scribes, 
, . . the persons to be mentioned below, who, . . . 
in tears and sorrows complained of the loss of their chil- 
dren and grandchildren and of others mentioned below, 
asserting that these children and others had, by the 



io6 Bluebeard 

aforesaid Egidius de Rays and certain other accom- 
plices of his and his abettors, been treacherously carried 
off and inhumanly strangled, and that he had committed 
upon them sins against nature, . . . that he had 
often invoked evil spirits and offered homage to them, 
and had committed very many other enormous and un- 
heard-of crimes of which the ecclesiastical court takes 
cognizance. . . . 

" Of whom the first complainant is Agatha the wife of 
Denys de la Mignon, of the parish of Holy Mary of 
Nantes, stating that a certain Colin her grandchild, the 
son of Guillermus Apvrill, about 20 years of age, small 
of stature and white of face, having on one ear a 
birth-mark, in the year 1439 in the month of August or 
thereabouts, on a Monday morning early went to the 
house commonly called la Suze in the city of Nantes 
(belonging to and occupied by Baron de Rays), . . . 
And afterwards she did not see the aforesaid Colin nor 
did she hear anything about him until a certain Perrina 
Martini alias la Meffraye, was arrested and shut up in 
the prisons of the secular court of Nantes. After this 
arrest she says that she heard it said by many that very 
many boys and innocent children had been carried off 
and killed by M. de Rays, she does not know to what 
purpose. 

" Likewise the widow of Reginald Don^t6 of the parish 
of Holy Mary of Nantes, also complained that Jean her 
son and son of aforesaid Donete used to frequent the 
house de la Suze in the city of Nantes ; and since the 
feast of St. John the Baptist of the year 1438 she heard 
nothing about him until the aforesaid Perrina Martin, 
alias la Meffraye, was arrested and imprisoned and con- 



Gilles's Trial 107 

fessed that she had given him over to the aforesaid de 
Rays and his companions. 

" Johanna, the wife of Guibeleti Delit, of the Parish of 
St. Denys of Nantes, likewise complained that her son 
Guillermus used to visit the house de la Suze, and went 
there during the first week of last Lent ; and she had 
heard M. Jean Briant say that he had seen him in the 
aforesaid house on seven or eight successive days ; that 
she had never afterwards seen her son, and that she sus- 
pected that he had been put to death in that house. 

*' Johannes Hubert and his wife, parishioners of St. Vin- 
cent of Nantes, complained that a certain son of theirs 
Jean by name, about 14 years of age, went to the house 
la Suze two years before the feast of the Nativity of St. 
John of last year, and then returning to the house of his 
parents, told his mother that he had cleansed the room 
of the aforesaid de Rays in the house de la Suze and had 
therefor bread in the aforesaid house, which bread he 
brought home and gave to his mother ; to whom he also 
said that he was in favour with M. de Rays, and that the 
lord had given him white wine to drink ; consequently 
he immediately returned to the house of Suze and was 
never again seen by his parents. 

" Johanna, the wife of Johannes Darel, of the parish of 
St. Similien near Nantes, complained that on the feast 
of Sts. Peter and Paul of the year before last, she was 
going home from the church of Nantes in the evening, 
and a child of hers aged seven or eight years was fol- 
lowing her. When she had reached the church of St. 
Saturnine of Nantes, or was near it, she looked around 
to see her son, whom she thought to be following her, 
but she saw him neither then nor ever after. 



io8 Bluebeard 

" The wife of Yvon Kyeguen, stonecutter, of the parish 
of the Holy Cross of Nantes, complained that she had 
given to a certain Poitou, a servant of M. de Rays, one 
of her sons (this she did between the feasts of Easter 
and Ascension) to be a servant to him, as the aforesaid 
Poitou asserted ; the son was about 15 years of age ; and 
afterwards she never saw him again. 

"Theophania, the wife of Eonette le Charpentier, 
butcher, of the parish of St, Clement near Nantes, com- 
plained that Peter the son of Eonet le Dagaye, the 
grandchild of the complainant, ten years old or there- 
abouts, was lost two years ago, and from that time 
nothing was heard of him until the aforesaid Perrina 
Martin, alias la Peliszonne, nicknamed la Meffraye, con- 
fessed, as is said, that she had given him to the followers 
of M, de Rays. 

" The wife of Peter Coupperie likewise complained that 
she had lost her two sons, one eight and the other nine 
years old. 

" Johannes Magnet complained that he had lost a son. 
Wherefore the said complainants said that they sus- 
pected that the aforesaid M. de Rays and his accom- 
plices were culpable and conscious of the loss and death 
of the aforesaid children." 

The judges and those present and in au- 
thority were much moved by these scenes, 
and they declared that such crimes should not 
go unpunished, however high the rank of the 
accused, and they directed the bailiff to notify 
Gilles to appear before their tribunal the 8th 



Gilles's Trial 109 

of October to respond In their presence to the 
accusations against him. On that day more 
witnesses were introduced, but their deposi- 
tions were not written out, or at least are not 
in the record. 

The court was opened in the great audience 
chamber in due form and solemnity, at about 
nine o'clock in the morning. The audience 
was public, and the hall was crowded. Gilles 
was brought to the bar as a criminal, and re- 
quired to plead. He carried a high head, look- 
ing around him disdainfully, as in the days of 
his power and strength. The bailiff recited 
that in accordance with the orders given to 
him, he had the possession of the body of 
Gilles de Retz, which he now presented before 
the court. Immediately the prosecutor arose, 
and proceeded verbally with the arraignment 
of the prisoner. It is to be remembered that 
the methods of procedure in the courts of 
that country are now, and were then, quite 
different from that of the common law courts. 

After the oral statement of the crimes of 
which he was accused, the prosecutor called 
upon Gilles to plead, to which Gilles (also 
orally) declared his refusal, and demanded an 
appeal from the Bishop of Nantes and the 



no Bluebeard 

Vice-Inquisitor, — supposed to be an appeal to 
the Archbishop at Tours or to the Pope him- 
self. His appeal was refused immediately, and 
his plea demanded. Michelet {Histoire de 
France, vol. v., p. 210) justifies Gilles in his 
refusal to plead and his demand for an appeal. 
" For," he says, " one cannot deny that the 
judges before whom Gilles was to be tried 
were his enemies." Gilles seems, in making 
these demands, to have intended to use the 
law's delay more than to have had any special 
hope of being sustained by the higher courts. 
It is remarkable, though, to consider the 
value attached by the court to Gilles's plea. 
It was evident that when he did plead, it 
would be a plea of ** not guilty " ; but this 
seemed to have had no effect upon the judges 
or upon their course of procedure. They ap- 
peared quite willing to permit the plea of 
" not guilty," but were determined to have a 
plea of some kind entered. It would be curi- 
ous to trace the causes of this solicitude on 
the part of the judges. The filing of the plea 
may have been required for some purpose 
deeper than the appearance would indicate ; 
possibly it stood in the stead of the present 
rule of law that requires the criminal to be ar- 



Gilles's Trial in 

rested and brought before the court in order 
to give it jurisdiction. True, the party can, 
in France, be tried in his absence and con- 
victed in contumacion ; but this can only be 
done after the party shall have been arrested 
and filed his plea. In murder trials, no con- 
viction can be had in the court of any civilised 
country until the proof shall be made of the 
corpus delicti. It would appear as though the 
importance of this plea was that it should be 
an evidence of the presence of the prisoner 
before the court. It may have been, in the 
eye of the law, a synecdoche, wherein a part 
stood for the whole, — a plea standing for the 
evidence of arrest and presence of the pris- 
oner before the court, — which was necessary 
to give it jurisdiction over the case. However 
this may have been, the court manifested great 
determination to obtain the plea from Gilles. 
They gave him some days to consider the 
matter, but he replied at once that 

■" none of the articles which you have presented against 
me are true except two things therein charged ; the 
baptism that I have received, and the renunciation 
which I have sworn against the demon, his pomp and 
his works. I am now, and always have been, a true 
Christian." 



1 1 2 Bluebeard 

Upon the receipt of this answer and defi- 
ance, the prosecutor became indignant. He 
offered his oath to support each and every one 
of the articles he had presented. Turning to 
Gilles, he demanded that he make the same 
oath, and in the same manner, that is, between 
the hands of the Bishop and the Vice-Inquis- 
itor i^' entre les mains de lUvique et du Vice- 
inguzsiteur''). This was demanded of him 
four different times — he was begged, pleaded 
with, implored, threatened, menaced with ex- 
communication, but he remained strong in his 
refusal. What a strange thing is human na- 
ture ! This man had committed the most 
fearful, inhuman, and base crimes, — crimes 
against the innocent and defenceless, — and yet, 
when brought to the bar of trial, he insisted 
he was a true Christian, and whatever else he 
might do or have done, he stood firm in his 
resolve not to take a false oath. He could 
commit murder times without number, and he 
seemed to consider the punishment for this 
relating only to the body. A false oath taken 
before God seemed to him to carry its punish- 
ment into the next world and to imperil his 
soul through eternity. He was willing to com- 
mit murder, but he was afraid to commit perjury. 



Gilles's Trial 113 

The hearing was postponed until the nth 
of October, to give the prosecutor time to pre- 
pare the information which should serve as an 
indictment and which had not yet been form- 
ally presented nor made a matter of record. 

In the meantime, public attention must have 
been greatly attracted to the proceedings as 
they were progressing, and invitations went 
out to all persons who had lost children by 
abduction within the specified time and who 
had reason to suppose that the crime could be 
laid to Gilles, or his accomplices, to present 
themselves before the court and make their 
complaints. 

Lemire relates (p. 39) this incident : 

" On the loth of October, a herald-at-arms of the Duke 
of Brittany, bearing his livery, sounded the trumpet 
three times before the chateau and then, in a loud voice, 
demanded that any person having knowledge of the 
affair of Gilles de Retz was summoned to appear before 
the court and tell what he knew under pain of fine and 
imprisonment. No person responded to this appeal." 

So great was the number appearing the next 
day in response to this notification that the 
court was unable to proceed with the trial, 
and consumed the nth and 12th in its in- 
quest, hearing and recording complaints of 



114 Bluebeard 

the many witnesses. As we have seen, these 
witnesses were presented before the judges, 
interrogated, and their statements taken down 
in the form of depositions, to the end that they 
might be included in the information against 
the prisoner. On October 13th, having fin- 
ished this work, the court had the prisoner 
brought before it. The session of the court 
was held in public ; the bench appears to have 
been filled with ecclesiastical dignitaries, many 
of them bishops from the neighbouring dio- 
ceses, with judges and lawyers ; while below, 
an immense pressing, pushing, exasperated 
crowd of bereaved parents and friends, filled 
with emotion, added much to the excitement 
by their declarations of the losses they had 
sustained by the abduction of their dear child- 
ren, and who filled the room with their cries 
against the perpetrator of the crimes by which 
they had been robbed of their loved ones. 

The hour for opening was, as usual, nine 
o'clock. The first business was a return to 
the question of the plea to be filed by the 
accused. Gilles refused with greater haut- 
eur than before, and pushed his refusal dis- 
dainfully, ending by becoming abusive of the 
judges and officers of the court, and conduct- 



Gilles's Trial 115 

mg himself In a highly improper and insulting 
manner. The following extracts are from 
Prods-verbal of the audience (translated) : 

" Thursday, October 13, 1440. 

" On the above-mentioned Thursday, the 13th day of 
October, there appeared in the court before the Lord 
Bishop of Nantes, etc., etc. . . . 

" Then the same Lord Bishop and the Vice-inquisitor 
and the aforesaid promoter, asked the aforesaid Egidius 
[Gilles], the accused, whether he wished to reply to the 
positions and articles against him, or whether he wished 
to say anything against them or to take any exception to 
them. He answered with pride and haughtiness that he 
wished to give no answer to the positions and articles, 
asserting that the aforesaid lords, the Bishop and Vice- 
inquisitor, were not his judges, and that he appealed 
from them, speaking irreverently and improperly. 

" Moreover, the aforesaid Egidius, accused, then said 
that the aforesaid lords, the Bishop of Nantes and brother 
Jean Blouyn the vicar of the aforesaid Inquisitor, and all 
other ecclesiastical men were guilty of simony and were 
ribalds, and that he would rather be hanged by the neck 
than to answer before such ecclesiastics and judges, feel- 
ing it a grievance to have to appear before them, . . , 
and finally addressing the lord Bishop, he said in the 
vernacular, ''J^e ne feroye rien pour vous comme ^vesque de 
Nantes' . . . Then under pain of excommunication 
he was asked to reply to the charges made against him, 
but he refused, saying that he wondered how it was that 
Petrus de I'Hospital, the President of Brittany, could 



ii6 Bluebeard 

have permitted that the ecclesiastics should be present 
at the accusation of such crimes against him, stating 
that he was a Christian and a Catholic, and that he was 
aware that such crimes would have been against faith. 

" Then he was formally excommunicated, and it was 
decided to proceed with the trial, paying no attention to 
his declaration that he had appealed, since such appel- 
lation was merely in verbal declaration and not in writ- 
ing, and since the enormity of the crimes of which he 
was accused demanded immediate attention." 

No progress was made during the day, and 
the court was adjourned until the morrow, 
when the information would be completed and 
formally lodged against the accused. 

The criminal proceedings in France, while 
different from those under the common law, 
yet still have some analogy therewith. There 
is no grand jury, but in its stead is an officer 
now called juge d' instruction. In this court 
no such special officer seems to have existed, 
but the duty of examining the witnesses, as 
done by the grand jury in the United States, 
was performed by the court itself, aided by 
the prosecutor. Instead of an indictment 
charging the crime as under the common law, 
an information is filed. The information is 
signed and presented in court by the prose- 
cutor, and while being prepared is entirely 



Gilles's Trial 117 

within his control. He has, under the law, 
the power of our grand jury of charging, or 
refusing to charge, crimes ; therefore the in- 
dictment is his. This information, instead of 
simply charging the crime directly, and in legal 
language, sets forth the history of the case, 
the jurisdiction of the court, the attending cir- 
cumstances of the crime chargfed, and ends 
with the usual prayers for conviction and pun- 
ishment. 

The information against Gilles de Retz con- 
tained forty-nine articles, and charged him with 
three distinct crimes : (i) the crimes of ab- 
duction, violation, and murder of the infants 
named ; (2) the crimes of magic and sorcery ; 
(3) sacrilege in having violated the ecclesiastic 
immunity of the chapel of Saint Etlenne-de- 
Mer-Morte. The information was divided into 
three parts. The first fourteen of the forty- 
nine articles were occupied with stating the 
jurisdiction of the court, that is to say, that 
Jean de Malestroit was the Bishop of Nantes, 
that he was properly and legally appointed as 
such, that he was under his superior, the arch- 
bishop, whose ecclesiastical province or cathe- 
dral was located at Tours ; then followed 
the power, authority, and right to sit, of Jean 



ii8 Bluebeard 

Blouyn, the Vice-Inquisitor ; then the declara- 
tion of the nativity of Gilles de Retz, his resid-^ 
ence in the diocese of, and duty owed to, the 
Bishop of Nantes ; a declaration of the eccle- 
siastical authority of the Bishop within his 
diocese over the chateau of Machecoul and 
the chapel of Saint Etienne-de-Mer-Morte and,, 
in fine, a complete statement of all necessary 
authority over the accused, and this part fin- 
ished with the declaration that all things 
herein set forth were true, notorious, mani- 
fest, and within the knowledge of all and every 
person. 

The second part of the information com- 
prised articles fifteen to forty-one. Article fif- 
teen was a general statement of all the crimes, 
charged against Gilles and his accomplices. 
The names of the accused were first stated : 
Gilles de Retz, Gilles de Sille, Roger de 
Briqueville, Henriet Griart, Etienne Corril- 
laud, alias Poitou, Andrea Bouchet, Jean Ros- 
signol, Robin Romulart, called Spadin, Huguet 
de Bremont, and the crimes charged were the 
murder of infants, killed, dismembered, burned, 
treated in an inhuman manner. Then there 
were the immolation damnable of the bodies 
of these infants offered to the demon as a sac- 



Gilles's Trial 119 

rifice ; consultation with the demon, odious con- 
duct, frightful abomination, brutal debauches, 
and, taken together, a catalogue of crimes, a 
luxury of offences that exhausted the prose- 
cutor to qualify in proper terms, and which, 
before a mixed assembly, could only be pro- 
nounced decently in Latin and not in vulgar 
language. 

He told of the excitement, dread, fear, of 
the people ; the public clamour that had sprung 
up from one end of the country to the other ; 
how it at last settled around the chateau of 
Machecoul, and that every time an abduction 
took place some one of the accomplices of 
Gilles had been discovered in the neighbour- 
hood. In making this part of his accusation, 
the prosecutor became filled with emotion, ex- 
cited in his address, and eloquent in his words. 
He described the conduct and feelings of the 
people, and especially of the stricken parents, 
of their cries (clamosa, for his first presentation 
and reading of the information was in Latin), 
the loud lamentations {lamentabile), the im- 
mense sorrow (^phirimum dolorosa), the accus- 
ing insinuations of the people ; he showed the 
innumerable persons of both sexes and all con- 
ditions, both in the cities and in the diocese of 



I20 Bluebeard 

Nantes, (^prcBcedentibus vocibus quant plurima- 
rum personarum utriusque sexus), who, bowed 
down by the weight of their grief and fright, had 
appealed to justice and to heaven with howls 
and cries (tclulantmm), and had presented their 
complaints together before the seat of justice, 
their visages bathed in tears {conquer entiu7n et 
plangentiunt) , for the loss of their sons and 
daughters, bringing to the Bishop, the com- 
missioners, and the prosecutors the authority 
of their tears and their griefs in support of 
this accusation. 

Article sixteen commenced with the charge 
of the crime of conjuration and invocation of 
demons. Over this the prosecutor also became 
eloquent. His accusation was of an infraction 
of ecclesiastical law, and he dealt largely with 
the law of the Church ; his charges abounded 
in quotations from the Bible (Fourth and 
Thirty-ninth Psalms), adjurations from holy 
men, and was filled with many brave and 
eloquent words in description and denuncia- 
tion of the abominable crime of black magic, 
conjuration, and sorcery. He takes up the 
Italian priests from their respective places in 
their native country, and brings them along 
until they are joined to Gilles in Brittany. In 



Gilles's Trial 121 

the articles alleging crimes against infants, 
in article twenty - seven, the accusation says, 
" and the number of victims is upward of one 
hundred and forty, and possibly more. The 
articles of the accusation following set forth 
the details of all these horrors ; the action, 
conduct, and aid of the familiars of Gilles and 
his accomplices ; when, where, for whom, and 
by whom the infants were taken, and their re- 
spective fates. These were all set forth in 
great detail and with great particularity, and 
article forty - one closes with the words : 
" These are the crimes which make Gilles de 
Retz infamous, a heretic, an apostate, an idol- 
ate, and a relaps.'^ 

Articles forty-two to forty-seven were oc- 
cupied with a recapitulation of the crimes com- 
mitted by Gilles and his accomplices, and in 
article forty-nine he concludes with the assur- 
ance that by such crimes and by such offences 
the accused had incurred the sentence of ex- 
communication and all other pains which fol- 
low the punishment to be assessed against such 
culpable of being auruspex et arzolus, the doers 
of evil deeds, the conjurors of evil spirits, their 
aiders and abettors, their friends, their depend- 
ants, and, finally, all those who have delivered 



122 Bluebeard 

themselves over to magic and the prohibited 
art. That the accused had fallen into heresy, 
that they were guilty of relaps, that they had 
offended the majesty of God, which was infin- 
itely worse than the offence against the priests ; 
they had incurred, consequently, the penalties 
for crimes against His Majesty Divine ; they 
had broken the commands of the Decalogue, 
the laws of the Church ; they had sown 
amonor the faithful Christians the most dan- 
gerous errors ; finally, that they were rendered 
culpable of crimes as enormous as they were 
hideous, all of which were in the jurisdiction 
of the Bishop of Nantes. And in the closing 
sentences the prosecutor demands that he shall 
be admitted now to make proof of what he has 
advanced, and this he will do, so he promises, 
without further superfluity, reserving only the 
right to add, to correct, to change, to diminish, 
to interpret, and to put in order and produce 
any new matters if they shall be necessary at 
the time and place convenient ; and he de- 
mands the application of the punishment due 
for this crime. The prosecutor admitted that 
certain of the crimes set forth in the informa- 
tion were not within the jurisdiction of the ec- 
clesiastical court, and that they would have to 



Gilles's Trial 123 

be remitted to the secular court if punishment 
was expected. 

Gilles de Retz interrupted the reading of 
the information many times, making denials 
in favour of himself, blaming his judges, and 
denouncing the prosecutors. Everybody seems 
to have preserved his temper except Gilles, 
and at the close of the reading of the informa- 
tion, the judges turned to him and demanded 
his formal plea to the various accusations 
against him. Gilles remained obstinate and 
refused to plead, and demanded an appeal to 
the higher court. His conduct during the 
reading was such as to destroy any sympathy 
the judges may have had. Bishops and judges 
are but men, and it was too much to expect 
that the human side of the court would hear, un- 
moved, this abuse and contumely heaped upon it. 

Gilles's continued refusal to plead gave the 
prosecutor and court an opportunity to exer- 
cise their legal power, and the prosecutor de- 
manded a decree of excommunication against 
Gilles for his contempt in this behalf com- 
mitted. This was an interlocutory order, in- 
tended to correct the faults of Gilles during 
the trial. It was useless to imprison him, for 
he was already a prisoner ; it was useless to 



1 24 Bluebeard 

threaten him with any other pains or penalties 
applied to his physical body ; therefore, the 
court, using the only other power it had as an 
ecclesiastical body, issued its decree of excom- 
munication, the only thunder it could fulminate 
against him. 

It is a curious commentary upon human na- 
ture, and throws a side light, not simply upon 
the ecclesiastical courts, but also upon the hu- 
man nature of that day, that Gilles, who had 
committed all the crimes in the calendar, and 
deserved death a thousand times if he had had 
that many lives ; who seemed to have no fear 
of any punishment inflicting physical pain or 
discomfort in this world, yet was so filled with 
dread of punishment in the next world, aris- 
ing from the decree of excommunication which 
he believed and feared would deprive him of 
the solace of his religion and the benefit of 
the vicarious intercession of his holy Mother 
Church that, as we shall see, it produced the 
greatest effect upon him and was of the great- 
est efficacy in changing his course. 

The decree of excommunication having been 
passed upon Gilles de Retz, a postponement 
was ordered until the Saturday following, Oc- 
tober 15th. 



Gilles's Trial 125 

At the next sitting Gilles had had two or 
three days in which to think over his condi- 
tion. Brought to the bar, the Court put to 
him the original question, " Do you recognise 
us as your legitimate judges ? " To which 
question, to the suprise of everyone who 
heard him, Gilles, who had heretofore been so 
proud and disdainful in all his refusals to re- 
spond affirmatively to this question, spoke 
out, " Yes ; I recognise the Court as at pre- 
sent constituted. I have committed crimes, 
and they have been within the limits of this 
diocese." With words of humility and regret, 
his voice broken with emotion, with tears in 
his eyes, he demanded pardon of the Bishop 
and Vice-Inquisitor for the words he had 
spoken so harshly against them. 

The Bishop, who had heretofore been dig- 
nified, reserved, severe, as became a judge in 
the trial of a case, on hearing these words of 
submission and request for pardon, turned the 
other side of his character towards the repent- 
ant. He then became the priest whose duty 
was to pardon, comfort, and console erring 
and sinful men ; and when Gilles prayed that 
his decree of excommunication be revoked, 
that he should be re-admitted to the fold of 



126 Bluebeard 

the Church and again be given the com- 
forts of his religion, the Bishop granted the 
prayers, and received him again into the 
Church, giving him words of comfort and good 
cheer. 

When this scene was finished, the prose- 
cutor asked for the progress of the trial in the 
usual way. Gilles raised no objection, and 
expressed his willingness to enter his plea and 
take oath to speak the truth in all things 
whereof he was accused. The information 
was read to him at length in the Latin lan- 
guage, and explained, section by section, in 
the common French. Gilles responded to the 
first fourteen articles, admitting in succession 
the powers of the Bishop and of the Vice-In- 
quisitor, the lawful constitution of the court, 
and that he was a member of the Church, and 
that the venue, as laid, was within the jurisdic- 
tion. Being further interrogated, he, however, 
denied all dealings with the Evil One, all per- 
formances of magic, all attempts at sorcery, or 
that he had ever, either by himself or by an- 
other, sought to have communication with the 
Evil One, or to invoke his power in any way 
in order to obtain riches, power, or long life. 
He admitted that he had once possessed a 



Gilles's Trial 127 

book that treated of alchemy and of the invo- 
cation of demons ; that he had obtained it 
from a soldier who had been thrown in prison 
at Angers ; that he had talked with the soldier 
upon that subject, but had done nothing more 
— he had returned the book. 

The record recounts how, at this period in 
the trial, the prosecutor demanded of Gilles 
that they two, in order to be on equal terms, 
should take the oath to speak the truth. They 
advanced together, the prosecutor and the de- 
fendant, and putting their left hands between 
the hands of the Bishop and of the Vice-In- 
quisitor, their right hands bearing upon the 
Holy Evangel, they took together the oath 
"To speak the truth and nothing but the 
truth," as to the matter before the court. 

This ceremony over, the formal plea of 
** not guilty " was entered by Gilles. Then 
came the introduction of witnesses, who were, 
Henri Griard, Etienne Corrillaud, alias Poitou, 
Frangois Prelati, Demontie Cativo, Eus- 
tache Blanchet, Etienne of St. Malo, Steopha- 
nie Etiennette, widow of Robert Branchee, 
and Perrina Martin, surnamed la Mef- 
fraye. They were all brought to the bar by 
Robert Guillaumet, the baihff, and appeared 



128 Bluebeard 

on the side of the prosecutor and against the 
defendant. The oath which the witnesses 
took is given in substance in the record. 
They were sworn between the hands of the 
Bishop and the Vice-Inquisitor, as Gilles and 
the prosecutor had been, and their oath was 
that neither favour, nor resentment, nor fear, 
nor hate, nor friendship, nor relationship, 
should have any part in their words ; and 
they put aside every spirit of party and all 
personal affection, having regard only for truth 
and justice. 

The judges announced to Gilles the privi- 
leges of cross-examination, putting the ques- 
tions himself if he desired to do so, for, be it 
understood, usually in criminal trials under the 
civil law, especially in France, the questions, 
whether they be by the prosecutor or by the 
accused, have to be handed up, and are put by 
the presiding justice. But as it is usual for the 
witnesses to proceed and tell their story with- 
out interrogation, Gilles declared his willingness 
to have the regular course pursued, and that he 
would leave the matter to the conscience of the 
Court. This being done, the witnesses were 
removed ; for, be it understood, by no court 
practice in France are the witnesses who have 



Gilles's Trial 129 

not testified permitted to remain while others 
are giving testimony. The presence of Gilles's 
accomplices as witnesses against him must have 
given him an awful shock. As soon as the wit- 
nesses had left the court-room, it seems that the 
condition of affairs presented themselves to 
Gilles in their true light, and showed him his 
serious and compromising situation. He was 
moved to great emotion, whether of remorse 
or fear cannot now be said. He demanded, in 
supplicating tones, that the revocation of the 
decree of excommunication should be in writ- 
ing, not simply by oral decree. 

It would appear from such of the history of 
this great criminal as we have, that the only 
thing which produced any emotion in him and 
caused him to exhibit fear or dread of his posi- 
tion was this decree of excommunication. The 
Bishop was in his forgiving mood, he had re- 
sumed his role of priest, and, very properly, he 
consented to do in writing what he had al- 
ready done verbally, and the decree of excom- 
munication was revoked. 

The court adjourned until the Monday there- 
after, the 1 7th of October, when it was expected 
that the introduction of evidence would begin. 
The examination was taken either orally {viva 



1 30 Bluebeard 

voce), before the court, or by the clerks, or 
greffiers, who acted as examiners, or notaries, 
and reduced the testimony to writing, report- 
ing it or its substance to the court. De Al- 
neto, Jo. Parvi, and G. Lesne were greffiers, 
and took most of the testimony for the eccle- 
siastical court ; while de Touscheronde did the 
same for the civil court, and it was reported 
under their respective certificates. 

October 17th was occupied with witnesses 
proving the crime of sacrilege committed on 
the chapel of Saint Etienne-de-Mer-Morte. 
On the 19th the witnesses were examined 
touching the crime of abduction of infants. 
This interests us more than the other, and 
therefore we follow it with the names of the 
witnesses : Professor Jean de Pencortic, Jean 
Andilanrech, Andre Seguin, Pierre Vimain, 
Jean Orienst, Jean Brient, Jean Le Veill, Jean 
Picard, Guillaume Michel, Pierre Drouet, Eu- 
trope Chardavoine, Robert Guillaumet (Doc- 
tor), Robin Riou, Jacques Tennecy, and Jean 
Letournours. All of these were sworn, as be- 
fore, to tell the truth without consideration of 
prayers, or recompense, or fear, or favour, or 
hate, or resentment, or friendship, or acquaint- 
ance's sake. Gilles again declined to cross-ex- 



Gilles's Trial 131 

amine the witnesses ; he declared his willingness 
to abide by their conscientious declarations. 

On the 20th of October the court was con- 
vened for the purpose of hearing the depos- 
itions, and Gilles was asked, with many ques- 
tions, what response he had to make. He 
continually said he had none : nothing to say, 
nothing to ask of the witnesses, and no wit- 
nesses of his own to introduce. Practically, 
he made no controversy over the testimony 
against him. 

The ecclesiastical court was equal to a court 
of the Inquisition. Two hundred or more years 
of practice by the Inquisition in prosecution of 
heresy had served to formulate rules of prac- 
tice. And here is introduced one of the curi- 
osities of human nature manifested in trials of 
justice when they are started in a given direc- 
tion. Recurring to remarks concerning the 
legal necessity of obtaining a plea to the in- 
dictment or information, in order, possibly, to 
show the presence of the accused, and specu- 
lating upon that as the origin of the theory 
of the common law requiring the personal 
presence of the accused in order to give the 
court jurisdiction to try the case, and the proof 
of the corpus delicti m order to convict, it seems 



132 Bluebeard 

proper that a similar course of procedure and 
reasoning should prevail in cases of heresy, an 
offence which dealt so largely with matters of 
belief ; therefore, the ecclesiastical court, or 
the Inquisitor, whether established as a court 
or not, deemed it necessary to appeal to the 
inner consciousness and the private knowledge 
of the accused in regard to his belief, and to 
that end put questions that demanded an 
answer. 

As a matter of course, the prisoner, if a her- 
etic, would refuse to answer because he would 
not convict himself, and hence grew up (this, 
is only a suggestion of the author) a system 
which seems horrible and revolting to all law- 
yers ; that is, the application of torture to 
compel the prisoner to make the necessary 
answer. No other punishment could be pro- 
vided, for the accused was already a prisoner, 
and being punished as such. As nothing in 
the way of legal punishment further than im- 
prisonment would be visited upon him, the 
Inquisition fell upon torture as a means of ex- 
torting a confession, and thus it forced from the 
unwilling lips of the accused a declaration of 
his belief. This would soon extend to include 
all his knowledge concerning matters at issue ; 



Gilles's Trial 133 

and when he should declare himself innocent, 
however true it might be, the torture could be 
applied again and again, harder and greater, 
until the power of resistance on the part of 
the accused was overcome, and he would 
give up because of his inability to resist 
further. 

So it appeared in the case of Gilles. The 
witnesses had testified to everything necessary 
to be proved ; Gilles had admitted the juris- 
diction and the corpus delicti, had practically 
admitted his immediate and direct connivance 
and assistance in the various abductions, as 
well as the sacrilege ; still, on his refusal to 
proceed further, the prosecutor demanded the 
application of torture. 

It was, according to our Ideas, a lamentable 
condition of the course of justice when the ap- 
plication of the torture should have been so 
common a proceeding that, on demand of the 
prosecutor, It would be allowed by the court, 
even when the guilt of the prisoner was be- 
yond dispute. This seems to have been the 
course of the court In the case of Gilles, and 
the petition for torture, as made by the prose- 
cutor, was allowed by the court, and the next 
day set for Its application. 



134 Bluebeard 

" Et tunc idem promoter dixit quod, attenta confes- 
sione dicti Egidii, rei, productionibus testium et eorum 
dictis depositionibus satis constabat de intencione sua in. 
causa et hujusmodi, sed nichilominus, ad veritatem lacius 
elucidandam et perscrutandam, torturam seu questionem 
dicto Egidio, reo, per eosdera dominos episcopum Nan- 
netensem et Fratrem Johannem Blouyn, judices, et ipsura 
questionari debere, instanter postulavit. 

" Qui quidem domini episcopus et vicarius dicti in- 
quisitoris, prius habito per eos super his omnibus consilio 
cum peritis, premissis consideratis, decreverunt ques- 
tionem sive torturam dicto Egidio de Rays^ et eum tor- 
turam pati, ipsumque Egidium, reum, torturis sive 
questionibus subici debere." 

It was said that the instrument of torture 
had already been put in place, and for the con- 
venience of all parties the prosecutor had 
chosen the hall adjoining that occupied by 
Gilles, to the end that the torture could be 
applied with as little trouble as possible, and 
whatever might be the result of it that Gilles 
could be properly attended to in case of need. 
On this demand of the prosecutor for tor- 
ture, and its allowance by the judges, Gil- 
les's courage left him ; he became frightened, 
turned pale and trembled. So full of fear 
and terror was he, as scarcely to be able to 
speak intelligently. He threw himself at the 
feet of his judges and, in broken accents, with 



Gilles's Trial 135 

cries and sobs, besought and supplicated them 
not to put him to this test, making all kinds of 
promises as to what he would do in order to 
escape torture. 

He prayed for leave to make confession of 
his crimes, and to have the Bishop of Saint 
Brieuc assigned for that purpose. 

It was agreed that the judge, Pierre 1' Hos- 
pital, the President of Brittany, should sit 
with the Bishop to hear the proposed confes- 
sion, and that the session should be held at 
two o'clock that afternoon. Gilles agreed to 
this, as he would have agreed to anything else, 
and he promised to make a clean breast of the 
whole affair. But as an evidence of the terror 
with which he contemplated the torture, he de- 
manded (this seems to have been his only con- 
dition) that his examination and confession 
should be taken in a hall as distant as possible 
from that of the torture. The court agreed to 
this proposition at once, and the two officials 
named were assigned the duty. The secreta- 
ries, or clerks of the court, acting respectively 
for these high functionaries, were Jean Parvi 
for the ecclesiastical court, and Jean de Tous- 
cheronde for the civil court. 

It is said that Gilles's confession before these 



136 Bluebeard 

two representatives of the ecclesiastical and 
civil powers was made in public, where every- 
body who desired could enter and hear. This 
confession of the same day is headed, in the 
records (archives), extra-judiciare, for what 
reason is unknown ; but, as there was a fuller, 
and apparently a judicial, confession made by 
him the next day, which will be given at length, 
the confession extra-judiciare is omitted, the 
incident only being mentioned. 

The President of Brittany, Pierre 1' Hospital, 
undertook the interrogation of Gilles. He took 
up first the crimes against the infants, their ab- 
duction and murder, and went through that 
with great minutiae, pushing it to all details ; 
then the same with regard to sorcery and the 
invocation of demons ; the bloody sacrifices 
that had been offered to the Evil One, as had 
been in evidence so many days. Pressed to 
tell where this commenced, Gilles said it was 
at the chateau of Champtoce, that the time 
was so long ago that he had forgotten and 
was unable to identify it, except that it was in 
the year in which his grandfather, Jean de 
Craon, had died. " Who gave to you, and 
how did you get, the idea of committing these 
crimes?" "No one; my own imagination 



Gilles's Trial 137 

drove me to do so. The thought was my 
own, and I have nothing to which to attribute 
it except my own desire for knowledge of 
evil." 

It appears, from the report of the case, that 
the President of Brittany did not believe these 
statements of Gilles's to be possible. He was 
so much astonished to hear this declaration 
that he pushed the examination with great de- 
tail, and insisted upon fuller and more specific 
answers. He approached Gilles sometimes 
from the legal side, sometimes from the ec- 
clesiastical ; sometimes he threatened him with 
the punishment of the secular arm, at other 
times he pleaded with him and held out the 
offers of pardon from the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
and by virtue of all these, he besought Gilles 
to go back over the words which he had 
spoken, to make a truthful and honest avowal 
of the causes which had led him to the commis- 
sion of these frightful crimes. 

There were three languages employed in 
these proceedings ; probably all three were 
spoken by the higher orders : the Latin by 
the ecclesiastical authorities, and that language 
was employed by the ecclesiastical court ; then 
the French language, which was foreign to Brit- 



138 Bluebeard 

tany, but which probably Gilles and all those 
concerned in the trial understood ; while as 
for the common people, doubtless their know- 
ledge was confined to the Breton language. 
The confession of Gilles, reduced to writing 
by the clerk's secretary, not verbatim, nor pre- 
tending to be so, but to have been written out 
only in substance, as is done in the case of tes- 
timony before an examiner or notary who em- 
ploys longhand. 

While the President was pushing this inves- 
tigation and cross-examination so far, to the 
visible annoyance and great trouble of Gilles, 
he cried out in French : ** Alas, Monseigneur, 
you torment yourself and me also, both of us, 
unnecessarily!" " No," replied the President 
of Brittany, " I do not torhient myself ; but I 
am astonished at what you have said, and I 
am scarcely content with it. My only desire 
is to have you tell the truth concerning the 
causes which I have so oftentimes asked you." 
Responded Gilles : " There is no other cause ; 
I have told you the truth and everything as it 
happened ; Je vous ay dit de plus grans choses 
que nest cest cy, et assez pour faire mourir dix 
milles hommes (I have said to you all things as 
they are, and enough to kill ten thousand men)." 



Transcription of opposite page, being sample ^photo^^rapli 
bv the author) of a Latin manuscript of the Record in the pro- 
cess against Gilles de Retz, from the Archives of Loire-In- 
fe'rieure, Nantes, a page of his {extrafudicial ) confession. 

"hoc facere illo anno quo defunctus avunculus suus 
dominus de la Suze decessit. 

" Item, interrogatus per ipsuni dominum presidentem 
quis eundem reum advisavit, consuluit vel instruxit ad 
predicta facinora facienda, respondit quod hec de se 
ipso imaginatus fuit, cogilavit, fecit, et perpetravit, ne- 
mine consulente seu advertente aut ipsum ad hoc intro- 
ducente, sed ex proprio suo sensu et capite ac pro 
complicencia et delectacione suis libidinosis explendis, 
et non pro quacumque alia intencione seu fine, predicta 
peccata, scelera et delicta fecerat et commiserat. Et, 
cum dictus dominus presidens, admirans, ut dicebat, 
qualiter ipse reus hec premissa scelera et delicta de se 
ipso et nemine instigante fecisset, ipsuni reum iterum 
summasset ut ex quo niotivo seu intencione et ad quem 
finem dictorum puerorum occisionem, cum eis commix- 
tionem seu pollucionem, et ipsorum cadaverum combus- 
tionem, et reliqua scelera et peccata predicta fecisset, 
vellet ipse reus, ad sue consciencie, ipsum verissimiliter 
accusantis, exonerationem, et pro venia clementissimi 
Redeniptoris inde super commissis facilius obtinenda, 
plenius declarare : tunc idem reus, quasi quodammodo 
indignatus super tarn sollicita et exacta inquiscione 
dicti domini presidentis, dixit eidem verba que secuntur 
gallice : ' Ifelas, Monseigneur, vous vous iouj-mentez et 
moy avecques ' : cui reo dicenti dominus presidens ita 
dixit gallice : ' J^e ne me tourinente point, mais je suis 
moult es/nerveille' de ce que vous me dites et ne m' en puis 
bo7inemcnt contenter. Ainczois, je desire et vouldroye par 
vous en savoir la pure verite pour les causes que je vous ay 
fa souventes foiz dictes.' Cui domino presidenti ipse 
reus tunc respondit, hec dicens gallice : ' Vrayement, il 
ny avoit autre cause, fin, ne in tendon que ce que fe vous ay 
dit : fe vous ay dit de plus grans choses que nest cest cy, et 
assez pour faire mourir dix mille homnies.' Qui quidem 
dominis presidens tunc omisit ipsum reum." 



ChtfiyK- yt^^vfi-i\ ^*tnUrv |r»44*»':v 4f ^»««vv /cc\nii*; ct-i^vwAi**- 
>^» Ktu^ ltct-pv«cn>v^ ^'WfTV <*-A?U«fev V/V>^ C*-/tK^m\^ 

,»K»HiU> ^^ }nK^K*Otvv^ <|- <*^ v^nv»^ ^mv»*f V»*t»»^ ^^wv^Vii^ 

^^i-vVrhi pr\ffct^ Sa.*IIc«- )^' Kt*^ i»i* /^♦'CXHvAvctvrW" ♦^)^i>r> 

fU^V*>f V-N,'^*»>'t«««««/ ^\^^ f^vj/KI-- c^ry^ff^f fkvS***^ A>h*wSlA 
^UH«H*«* \t\<%*-^V , ^T^Tt^nr 1a>*w l^*^ -AnAfT -itn^J^vVHiO^ 

y**^ 'pit-^Nntti^/ e*^(r *t*V^ Vvt-ptV 4*v^*- /vT»*HirHv ^lUW v 
I'^Ma^ ,n*<^y c*^*©"^ Ww^ • w t***»*t»M*M^*f /z tvMn^ <M\<^-nv^ 

Csrcv- <^4^- vcvv«» nu* ^tiv^ c4-,t^* tv«v^ »m^ &»tttv«M**HU- ^tiiVi- 

ft^\l I i fv* WA>',m*\Hvf- ") f »^ <tti^i-^ <(VwH\- oiup - A*i ' /tn* f\*f^r\c^ 
►^lu- nVj/it- <\*/?- ^' C^i^jfl"^ y»**r fk>*yf ,^^^^>'yv^(^ ^vw.^ y^nCZc 

Facsimile of folio page from archives of trial at Nantes. 
Confession of Gilles de Retz. 



Gilles's Trial 139 

Then the President gave over interrogating 
him, and accepted his declaration as true. He 
was sent back to his chamber, and his accom- 
pHce, Fran9ois Prelati, the Italian priest, chem- 
ist, and alchemist, was brought out. 

Prelati had already confessed to the invoca- 
tion of evil spirits, and that he had made offer- 
ings of the blood and of the members of an 
infant. Being interrogated, he made his form- 
al confession, also reduced to writing, but it 
turned out that this was only a repetition of 
an informal confession, so excited no great 
surprise. The interrogators seemed more in- 
terested in the invocation of demons than in 
the abduction and murder of the infants. 
Gllles and Francois were brought together 
before the judges and the Bishop, and upon 
the conclusion of the seance they were sent 
back to their respective prisons. On parting, 
Gllles turned towards Frangols, and sobbing, 
embraced him with sorrow, and addressed to 
him his last words : " Adieu, Fran9oIs, my 
friend. Never again will we see each other in 
this world. I pray that you may have good 
patience and hope in God, and that we will see 
each other In the great joy of Paradise. Pray 
to God for me and I will pray for you." 



I40 Bluebeard 

They tenderly embraced each other and then 
separated, never to see each other again. This 
scene happened, and these two confessions 
were made, before the two officers in private 
audience, in chambers, as it were. 

On the next day, Saturday, October 2 2d, 
the judicial confession of Gilles was made, and 
presented before the court. It is herewith 
given in tho. proc^s-verbal oi the session : 

Translation of the Confession of Gilles de Retz, 

"On Saturday, the 226. of the aforesaid month of Oc- 
tober, the aforesaid master Guillermus Champeillon, pro- 
moter, prosecutor, on the one hand, and the aforesaid 
Gilles de Retz, defendant, on the other, personally re- 
paired to the trial before the before-mentioned lords, the 
reverend Father, the Lord Bishop of Nantes, and Brother 
John Blouyn, vicar of the said Inquisitor, who had taken 
their seats in the tribunal there in the aforesaid place at 
the vesper hour for the rendition of justice. And acting 
in accordance with the assignment of the day of trial on 
the motion of the said prosecutor, the afore-mentioned 
lords, the Bishop of Nantes and Brother John Blouyn, 
vicar of the aforesaid Inquisitor, asked the afore- 
said Gilles, defendant, whether he wished to say any- 
thing or make any opposition or objection to (the 
evidence or charges) produced or maintained in this 
case and similar cases. The defendant, indeed, said 
and replied that he did not wish to say anything, and 
fully and of his own accord, and with great compunc- 



Gilles's Trial 141 

tion and bitterness of heart, as was evident at first 
sight, and with copious shedding of tears, confessed 
that the already recorded [charges], elsewhere, as [men- 
tioned] above, extra-judicially confessed to, [namely] in 
his room in presence of the aforesaid reverend Father, 
the Lord Bishop of Saint-Brieuc, of master Pierre de 
I'Hospital, the President, of John de Touscheronde and 
of John Parvi, as well as all and everything contained 
and described in the articles inserted above, will be and 
are true. And adding to his extra-judicial confession 
already inserted and not receding from it, which the same 
accused wished right here [to be considered] as repeated 
and declared, and as he stated, rectifying the defects if 
perchance he had omitted anything in it, and moreover 
more fully declaring and enlarging, he freely confessed 
some things contained in a summary form in certain 
of the afore-mentioned articles, and said, to wit, that 
he had committed and perpetrated very many other 
greater and more enormous crimes and sins against God 
and His commandments than are contained in the arti- 
cles already inserted, from the beginning of his iniqui- 
tous youth against God and His writings, and that he 
had offended our Saviour Himself by the evil training 
he had had in his boyhood in which he had endeavoured 
to perform whatever pleased him with unbridled rein 
and had given himself to everything illicit ; and implor- 
ing those present who had children, that they have their 
sons brought up and trained in their youth and boyhood 
in religious instruction and virtue. 

"After this confession, as it is already stated, judi- 
cially given and made by the aforesaid Gilles de Retz, 
the accused, of the contents in the aforesaid articles. 



142 Bluebeard 

and, [after] that extra-judicial [confession] repeated and 
declared, the same accused moreover made another con- 
fession of the following tenor, separate and apart, in 
the presence of the reverend Father in Christ, Lord John 
Prigencii, Bishop of Saint-Brieuc and the nobleman 
Pierre de I'Hospital, the above-mentioned President of 
Brittany, and of John Abbatis, the shield-bearer, and 
of me, John Parvi, notary public and general examiner 
of the ecclesiastical court of Nantes, a second of the 
secretaries of [this] cause and of similar causes, and of 
John de Touscheronde, also secretary of the civil court 
of the same place, concerning the afore-mentioned per- 
petrations, crimes, and sins, embracing the vices and sins 
mentioned . . . [all] iniquitously committed by him : 
not only as much as is perhaps contained in the afore- 
written articles already freely confessed to, by Gilles him- 
self, the accused, and in order that said secret confession 
be more widely published, the same Gilles, defendant, 
thought it proper that, without departing from the said 
extra-judicial confession made by him concerning the 
said charges, but rather to strengthen and corroborate 
it, the confession itself be published in the vernacular 
for the benefit of the people and all then and there as- 
sisting, of whom the greater part knew no Latin ; that, 
however, an introductory remark be added informing 
those present that the culprit submitted to this general 
revelation of his guilt in order by the shame this publi- 
cation and confession of such crimes committed by him 
would cause him, the more easily to obtain from God 
pardon and remission for his sins and to have wiped 
away the transgression committed by him. [He wished 
the public to know] that during his youth he had always 



Gil les's Trial 143 

been tenderly reared, had committed as much as in him 
lay and with nothing to check his inclination, all the 
evil deeds he could, had centred all his hope, intention, 
and work upon the commission of illicit and shameful 
deeds and had employed [his hope, intention, and work] 
in unlawful acts by perpetrating said crimes — most ear- 
nestly beseeching and exhorting the fathers, mothers, 
friends, and relatives of all youths to guide their charges 
along the paths of honesty by setting them a good exam- 
ple and instilling into them sound doctrine, and to chas- 
tise every fault against good morals to save them from 
the snares into which he himself had fallen. By this 
secret confession which was examined and publicly read 
in court in the presence of the said Gilles, defendant, 
and approved by Gilles himself, the defendant, the said 
Gilles de Retz, the defendant, manifested of his own ac- 
cord before all present and confessed that he, led by 
passion and the delight he took in satisfying his carnal 
appetite — of which mention will be made later on — had 
stolen or caused to be stolen very many boys — the num- 
ber he could not remember ; that he had put these boys 
to death and caused them to be killed and that with 
them he had committed crimes and sins . . . [that 
he had killed] these boys, sometimes himself with his 
own hand, and sometimes through the agency of others 
and especially the above-mentioned Gilles de Sill6, the 
Lord Roger Briqueville, soldier, Henriet et Poitou, Ros- 
signol and Little Robin, by various kinds and modes of 
torture, some by the amputation and separation of their 
heads from their bodies using daggers or poniards and 
knives ; others, however, with sticks or other implements 
for striking by beating them on the head with violent 



144 Bluebeard 

blows ; others again by tying them with cords and fasten- 
ing them to some door or iron hook ... in his own 
room that they might be strangled and languish. [He 
continued] that with these boys even whilst languishing 
. . . and after their death he took delight in kissing, 
in gazing intently at those who had the more beautifully 
formed heads and in cruelly opening or causing to be 
opened their bodies that he might see their interior, and 
that frequently, whilst these boys were dying, he would 
sit on their stomachs and take great pleasure in seeing 
them thus dying, and that he used to laugh heartily at 
the sight with the said Corrillaud and Henriet. The 
corpses he caused afterwards to be burned and reduced 
to ashes by the same Corrillaud and Henriet and others. 

" Interrogated concerning the places where he had 
perpetrated the afore-mentioned crimes and at what time 
he had begun to do these things and concerning the 
number of those killed after this manner, he answered 
and said that [first he had done so] in the Chateau de 
Champtoc^ and from that year on in which lived the lord 
de la Suze, the maternal uncle of said defendant ; that 
in this place he had killed and caused to be killed very 
many boys — the number he could not remember — . . . 
the aforesaid Gilles de la Sille alone knowing of the mat- 
ter at that time ; but that afterwards the aforesaid Roger 
de Briqueville and then Henriet, Stephen Corrillaud 
{alias Poitou), Rossignol, and Robin became successively 
his accomplices and sharers in these crimes. And he 
said that the bones both of the heads and the bodies of 
the boys killed in the aforesaid Chateau de Champtoce, as 
has been stated, which had been thrown into the lower 
apartment of a certain tower of that castle, he himself. 



Gilles's Trial 145 

defendant, produced from that spot, placed in coffins 
or chests, and transported by water to the place and cas- 
tle of Machecoul aforesaid, burned there and caused to 
be reduced to ashes ; that also, in the same place of 
Machecoul, he himself, defendant, seized, killed, and 
caused to be stolen and killed many other boys in large 
numbers — how many he could not recollect ; and that, 
again, in the manor called la Suze, of Nantes, which he, 
Gilles, defendant, then owned, he had similarly killed 
and caused to be killed, burned, and reduced to ashes 
many other boys of whom he could not remember the 
numbers. . . . The same Gilles de Retz, defendant, 
narrated and confessed that all misdeeds, crimes, and 
transgressions above mentioned he committed and crim- 
inally perpetrated of his own free will and accord alone, 
for the purpose of satisfying his evil and iniquitous com- 
placency and pleasure and not out of any other motive 
or intention, with no one to urge or advise him, defend- 
ant, or even to call to his attention such thoughts. 

" Furthermore, he declared and confessed that, after 
the expiration of a year and a half, the Lord Eustace 
Blanchet aforesaid summoned the aforesaid Francois 
Prelati from the country of Florence in Lombardy and 
invited him to the same Gilles, defendant, for the pur- 
pose of invoking demons according to the intention of 
the defendant, and that Francois, summoned to the same 
defendant, informed him that he, Francois, had discov- 
ered in the country whence he had come means of con- 
juring up a certain spirit by the aid of incantations, which 
spirit had promised him, Francois, that he would cause 
a certain demon called Barron to come to him, Fran- 
9ois, as often as the same Francois might desire. 



146 Bluebeard 

** Likewise, the same Gilles de Retz declared and con- 
fessed that the same Francois made several invocations 
of demons in compliance with a command of himself, 
defendant, both during his absence and sometimes when 
he was present, and that he himself, defendant, was in 
person present at three such invocations of Franfois who 
made them : One in the Chateau Tiffauges, another in 
Bourgneuf de Retz, aforesaid, and that concerning the 
third aforesaid invocation he did not recall in which 
place it was made. And he added that the said Lord 
Eustace knew that the said Francois was making such 
invocations, but that the same Lord Eustace was not 
present at these invocations, since neither the defendant 
himself nor Francois would permit him to be present at 
the incantations, as the same Lord Eustace had an indi- 
rect, evil, and restless tongue. 

" Besides, the selfsame defendant declared and con- 
fessed that during these invocations there were traced as 
characters on the ground figures of a circle and a cross, 
and that the same Francois possessed a book which he 
had carried about his person, as he used to say, which 
contained many names of demons and formulas for the 
making of such conjurations and invocations of demons, 
which names and formulas he, defendant, could not re- 
member ; that the said Franpois held and read this book 
for about two hours during and for each invocation ; 
but that at none of his own conjurations or invocations 
the defendant saw or noticed any devil, and that none 
spoke to him, at which he, defendant, was much dis- 
pleased and vexed. 

" Afterwards the same defendant declared and con- 
fessed that after a certain invocation made by the said 



Gilles's Trial 147 

Trangois during the absence of the said defendant, the 
same Francois on his return from that very invocation 
informed the said defendant that he, Frangois, had seen 
and addressed the said Barron, who had told him, Fran- 
■fois, that he, Barron, did not appear to the said defend- 
ant because the defendant had deceived Barron regarding 
some promises read by the said defendant to the said Bar- 
ron and because he had not fulfilled his promise. Hear- 
ing this, the said defendant bade Frangois ask the same 
devil what he wished to receive from the said defendant 
and that whatever the same Barron might wish to receive 
and ask of the said defendant, he, the defendant, would 
give him — except his soul and life and provided the 
devil would give and grant him, defendant, whatsoever 
he would ask. The defendant added then that it had 
t)een and was his intention to ask and acquire from the 
same devil knowledge, riches, and power, by the posses- 
sion and aid of which he, defendant, would be enabled 
to return to his former state of dominion and power ; 
and that, afterward, the same Frangois told the said de- 
fendant that he had conversed with the devil and that 
the said devil, among other things, required and wished 
that the defendant present to him, the devil, a limb or 
limbs of some infant. That the defendant, later, deliv- 
ered to the said Frangois the hand, heart, and eyes of 
an infant to be offered and given to the same devil by 
the said Francois, on the part of the said defendant. 

"Again, the said Gilles de Retz, defendant, declared 
and confessed that before he, defendant, took part in 
the second of the three aforesaid invocations at which 
he assisted in person as is stated above, he [defendant] 
wrote and signed with his own hand a grant . . . 



148 Bluebeard 

to the bottom of which he appended his name in the 
vernacular, videlicet ' Gilles,' the contents of which, how- 
ever, he does not remember ; which grant he composed 
and signed with the intention of handing it over to the 
devil if and while he came, conjured or summoned by 
the said Franfois, and this he did acting upon the advice 
of the said Frangois, who previously had told the defend- 
ant that he, the defendant, must hand over that grant to 
the devil as soon as the spirit should come or approach : 
and that during this invocation the defendant continu- 
ally held that grant in his hand waiting to hear the pro- 
mise and agreement concerning which Franfois and the 
devil should come to terms regarding the matters which 
the said defendant was to promise and to do for the 
devil, who did not appear or speak with them so that, 
accordingly, the defendant did not ever hand over the 
mentioned grant. 

" Again, said defendant declared and confessed that 
he himself sent the aforesaid Stephen Corrillaud, alias 
Poitou, along with the said Francois, as Franfois was 
one night going out to make one of the aforesaid invo- 
cations. These two on their return, drenched by a 
heavy rainstorm, stated to the said defendant that dur- 
ing the invocation nothing had come to them. 

** Again, the said defendant declared and confessed 
that wishing to assist at a certain invocation which Fran- 
cois proposed to make, the latter expressed his dissatisfac- 
tion that Gilles should then be present at the invocation. 
Returning from the invocation, he told the said defendant 
that, if he had been present at the invocation, he would 
have run great risk, for at that invocation there came 
and appeared a serpent to the same Franf ois which filled 



Gilles's Trial 149 

him with great fear : hearing this the said defendant af- 
ter taking and causing to be carried near him a particle 
of the True Cross in his possession, expressed a longing 
to go to the spot of the said invocation where the said 
Francois claimed to have seen the reptile. This, how- 
ever, he did not in deference to Francois's prohibi- 
tion. 

" Again, the same Gilles de Retz, defendant, declared 
and confessed that at one of the three aforesaid invoca- 
tions at which he assisted, as is stated above, the said Fran- 
cois informed him that he, Francois, had seen the said 
Barron who showed him a large quantity of gold and, 
among other things, an ingot of gold ; but the said de- 
fendant said he had seen neither the devil nor the said 
ingot but only a sort of gold-leaf \auripelli aurum-pel- 
lis (?) ] under the form of a leaf of gold which he, 
defendant, did not touch. 

" Again, the said defendant declared and confessed 
subsequently that when he was recently at the court of 
the most illustrious Lord and Prince, the Lord of Brit- 
tany, in the Canton Jocelin, of the diocese of Maclo- 
via he, defendant, caused to be killed several boys 
furnished him by the aforesaid Henriet, ... in the 
above stated manner. 

" Again, the same defendant declared and confessed 
that the said Franfois, acting on the instigation and dur- 
ing the absence of the defendant, performed there, viz. 
at Jocelin, an invocation of the demons, at which he 
learned that nothing took place. 

" Again, the said defendant, setting out from Bitu- 
ris, dismissed the said Francois at the same Chateau 
de Tiffauges, asking him meanwhile and during the ab- 



I50 Bluebeard 

sence of the said defendant to attend and devote himself 
diligently to such incantations, and to repeat to the de-^ 
fendant whatsoever he would learn, do, and think in that 
regard ; and that Frangois wrote to him, the absent de- 
fendant, as has been stated, in cipher, called in French 
par paroles couvertes, that his transactions went on satis- 
factorily and that at this time the same Francois sent 
him, the defendant, a certain object after the manner of 
an ointment lodged in a silver capsule and purse {bursa) 
also made of silver, the said Francois writing at the same 
time to the aforesaid defendant that this was an entirely 
precious object and advising the said defendant further- 
more in his letter to guard the object solicitously. The 
defendant, giving credence to this admonition of the- 
said Francois, hung the object with the above-mentioned 
bursa about his neck and wore it for several days thus 
suspended ; afterwards, however, the defendant removed 
the object from his neck and threw it away, as he dis- 
covered that it would not in the least benefit him, 

" Again, the same defendant declared and confessed 
that the said Francois once told him that the aforesaid 
Barron bade the defendant feed, in the name of the- 
said Barron, three poor men on three great feasts, which 
the defendant did on a certain All Saints' Day, and only 
once. 

" Interrogated why he thus kept in his house and 
about his person the afore-mentioned Francois, he made 
answer that Frangois was clever, valuable to him, and 
pleasant company because he spoke Latin beautifully^ 
and charmingly, and because, furthermore, he showed 
himself anxious concerning the proper administration of 
his affairs. 



Gilles's Trial 151 

" Again, the said defendant declared and confessed 
that, after the last festival of St. John the Baptist, a cer- 
tain handsome youth who stayed with a man named 
Rodigus dwelling in the aforesaid Place Bourgneuf de 
Retz, was one night brought to him, defendant, as he 
dwelt in the same place, by the said Henriet and Stephen 
Corrillaud, alias Poitou, and that during that night the 
defendant . , . caused him to be killed and to be 
burned near Machecoul. 

"Again, the said defendant declared and confessed 
that, news having reached him that the soldiers of the 
municipal fortress of Paluau strove to put to death the 
captain of the fortress, St. Stephen de Mala, when, indig- 
nant at this, he, defendant, set out with his men and rode 
on a certain day, which he did not remember, from 
daybreak intending to attack the soldiery of the fort- 
ress of Paluau, seize them, and punish them if he could 
meet them, the said Franfois, who rode among the others 
in the retinue of the said defendant, foretold from the 
start of this expedition that the defendant would not 
find on that day the said soldiery of the fortress of 
Paluau, and that in fact he did not meet them, so that 
the intention of the defendant was frustrated. 

" Again, the same Gilles de Retz declared and con- 
fessed that he had detained in his power and caused to 
be killed two apprentices, one of Guillemain Sanxaye 
and the other of Petri Jaquet, named Princzay or 
Prince. . . . 

" Again, the said defendant declared and confessed 
in court that, at the time of his last stay at Vienne 
{yeneW) in the month of last July, Andrew Buschet 
handed over and delivered up to the said Gilles, defend- 



152 Bluebeard 

ant, in the dwelling house of a certain John Lemoyne 
at which the said Gilles, defendant, was at that time en- 
joying hospitality, a certain boy, . . . and that he 
himself afterwards caused the said Poitou to throw the 
killed lad into the privy of a residence belonging to a 
certain Boetdan, close by the residence of the said Le- 
moyne, in which residence or house of Boetdan the horses 
of said defendant had been sheltered {apud marchiliam) 
near the market-place of said Vienne, and that Poi- 
tou for this purpose flooded the privy so as to sub- 
merge and cover the corpse of said boy, lest it be 
discovered. 

" Again, the said Gilles similarly declared and con- 
fessed that before the arrival of the aforesaid Frangois 
he had had other conjurors of demons, that is to say, a 
certain trumpeter called de Mesnill, master John Rip- 
paria, a certain Louis, master Anthony de Palermo, and 
another whose name he could not remember ; that these 
conjurors at the instigation of said Gilles, defendant, 
made several incantations of spirits, at some of which the 
said Gilles, defendant, was present in person, both near 
the aforesaid Chateau de Machecoul and elsewhere [and 
that he attended], principally to see the circle or outline 
or sign of a circle drawn on the ground prior to the in- 
cantation, with the intention of seeing the devil, of 
speaking with him, and making bargains with him. But 
the same defendant declared that he never could see nor 
converse with the said devil, though for this purpose he 
had taken all the pains he could, so that indeed it was 
not the fault of the said defendant that he did not see 
the devil nor converse with him. 

" Again, the frequently mentioned Gilles declared and 



Gilies's Trial 153 

confessed that the aforesaid de Mesnill, wizard, informed 
the defendant once that the devil, in order to do and ful- 
fil the things which the said defendant intended to ask 
and obtain from the said devil, desired to receive from 
the said defendant a grant, written, made by him, de- 
fendant, with his own hand, and signed with the blood 
of one of his fingers, in which grant the aforesaid defend- 
ant should promise to give to the said devil whenever he 
appeared during the invocation of the said defendant, 
certain things which he, defendant, could not remem- 
ber ; and that the same defendant, for this purpose and 
end, signed the said grant with his own hand, with blood 
drawn from his little finger, and subjoined his own name 
to the said grant, i. e., Gilles [see p. 22], That he could 
not accurately remember the other statements contained 
in this grant, except that he promised by the honour of 
said grant to deliver up to said devil the articles men- 
tioned in the grant, provided that the devil would give or 
grant the same Gilles knowledge, power, and riches. But 
the defendant is quite certain, as he says, that whatsoever 
he may have promised the devil by this or other grants, he 
always and decidedly made exception of and reserved his 
soul and his life : and he says that this grant was not 
handed to the devil at this time, since he did not appear 
to the said Gilles, defendant, at or during said incanta- 
tion. 

*' Furthermore, the said defendant likewise declared 
and confessed that once the said master John Ripparia 
made one of his invocations in a wood or grove situated 
near the Chateau de Pouzauges, and that this Ripparia, 
before going to make this invocation, armed himself 
with weapons and implements of protection to his body, 



154 Bluebeard 

and thus armed he approached the said grove intending 
to make the invocation ; — and that, when the said de- 
fendant, accompanied by his servants and, especially, 
by Eustace, Henriet, and Stephen Corrillaud, alias Poi- 
tou, aforesaid, started after a little while towards the 
said grove and met the said de Ripparia returning from 
that grove, then the said de Ripparia told the said Gilles, 
defendant, that he had seen the devil coming to him in 
the guise of a leopard that passed in front of him and 
told something to him, de Ripparia, which, as he said, 
infused great fear into the said de Ripparia, And the 
defendant added in his narration, that the said de Rip- 
paria, to whom the defendant had given the sum of 
twenty louis d 'or [regalium auri), took his departure 
after this invocation, promising to return later to the 
said defendant, which he did not do. 

" Similarly, the same accused said and confessed that 
when another invocation of the demons which the ac- 
cused and a certain one of the above-mentioned invoc- 
ators, whose name is not mentioned, and who was an 
associate of Gilles de la Sille, made in a certain room of 
the above-mentioned Chateau Tiffauges, de la Sill6 him- 
self did not attempt to enter the circle or circular sign 
made in the said room for the invocation, nay, rather, he 
withdrew to a window of that room with the intention of 
jumping out if he should feel anything terrible approach, 
there holding in his arms an image of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary ; and the said accused standing within the circular 
sign, feared very much, and especially as the said invoca- 
tor forbade him to make the sign of the cross, as other- 
wise they, the accused and the invocator, would be in 
great danger, nor did the accused for this reason attempt 



Gilles's Trial 155 

to make that sign, but then remembering a certain prayer 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary which begins * Alma,' ' said 
invocator ordered the said accused to go out of the cir- 
cle, and withdrawing quickly and going out of the room, 
the invocator being left remaining there, and the door 
of the room being closed by the above-said invocator, 
he went to the aforesaid Gilles de la Silld, who forth- 
with said to the accused that the invocator thus left in 
the room was beaten and struck to such an extent as if 
the striking was done by kicking. And when the ac- 
cused heard this, he opened the room right away, and in 
the entrance of the room said accused saw said invocator 
[lying] on his face, grievously wounded and weakened 
in other parts of his body, among other strokes and 
blows then sustained by said invocator, ... in the 
forehead and otherwise wounded so that the invocator 
could not support himself, wherefore said accused, fear- 
ing that said invocator by reason of that beating would 
die, wanted and made said invocator receive the sacra- 
ment of confession ; he, however, did not die, but got 
well after that same trouncing. 

" The said Gilles de Retz, accused, also said and 
confessed that he commissioned the aforesaid Gilles 
de la Sille [to go] to the upper country to look for and 
bring to said Gilles, accused, invocators of demons or 
malignant spirits. And that this Gilles de la Sille, thus 
commissioned and then having returned, related to the 
same Gilles, accused, how he, de Sille, had found a 
woman who occupied herself with such invocations, 
and that she said to the same de Sille that unless Gilles 
de Retz would remove his heart from the Church and 

' Alma Redemptoris Mater, an anthem chanted during Advent. 



1 56 Bluebeard 

his chapel, he could never fulfil his intention ; and that 
the said de Sille found in those parts another woman 
who had said to the same de Sille that unless the said 
accused would desist and cease from a certain work on 
which he was intent and which he desired to follow out, 
he would never have a day's luck. Also, said de Sille 
had found in these parts an invocator whom the said de 
Sille proposed and began, as he said, to conduct to the 
said accused, but that on the way, the invocator, being 
disposed to come to the said accused, as he was crossing 
a river or stream, accidentally fell in. Also said Gilles, 
accused, said and confessed that de Sille brought an- 
other invocator to said accused and that he died without 
delay ; in and from the obsequies of such unfortunate 
deceased and from other previous difficulties, which in- 
terfering he could not come to the aforesaid invocations 
and his other damnable intentions ; he said that he be- 
lieved the Divine clemency and intercessory prayers of 
the Church, from which his heart and hope never devi- 
ated, mercifully preserved him from perishing in such 
risks and dangers, and for this reason he proposed to 
desist from his bad life for the future and to visit the 
[holy] places in Jerusalem and to visit abroad the prin- 
cipal places of the life and Passion of his Redeemer, and 
to perform other [penances] by which he might merci- 
fully obtain from his Redeemer the pardon of his sins. 
Wherefore, after he had said and confessed freely and 
of his own accord the aforesaid things at the trial, as re- 
corded, he exhorted the people there present, and espe- 
cially the ecclesiastics who were present in the majority, 
that they always hold in reverence and in the highest es- 
teem holy Mother Church and never depart from it, espe- 



Gilles's Trial 157 

daily adding that had he, the accused, not directed and 
attached his heart and mind to the Church, he could never 
have escaped the malice and schemes of the devil, nay, 
rather he believed that the devil would long since have 
strangled him and almost have carried off his soul by rea- 
son of his enormous crimes and sins ; and he, moreover, 
exhorted every head of a family to avoid permitting their 
children's being clothed in soft raiment and living in idle- 
ness, hinting and asserting that from idleness and excess 
at table many evils spring, more expressly declaring in 
his own case that idleness and the too frequent and too 
choice partaking of delicate meats and blood-stirring 
wines were the chief sources of his having committed so 
many sins and crimes. 

" For which sins and crimes committed by him, as 
stated, he, Gilles de Retz, accused, humbly and in tears 
begged mercy and pardon of his Creator and Most Holy 
Redeemer, as well as of the parents and friends of the 
aforesaid children cruelly murdered, and of all others 
whom he had sinned against, or injured, both those there 
present or elsewhere, and the help of the devout prayers 
of all Christ's faithful and Christ's worshippers, both 
present and absent. 

" Wherefore the aforesaid master, Guillermus Chapeil- 
lon, promoter in case of said Gilles de Retz, accused, 
having the free confession of the matter and the other 
facts legitimately proved against same accused, immedi- 
ately asked that a certain day and suitable closing day 
of trial for same Gilles de Retz, accused, be preferred 
and assigned for bringing [trial] to an end, and seeing 
to its being brought to an end as well as for judgment and 
definite sentence [being pronounced] by said reverend 



158 Bluebeard 

Father in Christ, the Lord Bishop of Nantes, and Brother 
John Blouyn, vicar of said Inquisition, and by every one 
of them or of those, and by those assigned and deputed 
to this [trial], and made in writing and promulgated in 
[this] trial and trials of this kind : or that said Gilles de 
Retz, accused, should state cause, if he had a reasonable 
one, why this should not be done. Whereupon the lords, 
the Bishop, and the vicar of the aforesaid Inquisition 
said that Tuesday next was fixed, determined on, 
and assigned for the prosecutor and for Gilles de 
Retz, accused, he not opposing it, to proceed to jus- 
tice, as it might seem necessary in this and similar 
trials. 

" Of the aforesaid [things], said prosecutor asked that 
one and several documents be made and drawn up for 
him by us, the subscribed notaries and scribes. There 
were present in aforesaid place [of trial] reverend Father 
in Christ, Lord Jean Prigencii, Bishop of St. Brieuc, 
master Pierre de I'Hospital, President of Brittany, Rob- 
ert de Ripparia and Lord Robert d'Espinay, aforesaid 
soldier, and the nobleman Yvone de Rocerff, as well as 
the honourable men, masters Yvon Coyer, dean, John 
Morelli, chanter, Graciano Ruitz, Guillermo Groygueti, 
licentiate of laws, Jean de Castrogironis, Peter Aprilis, 
Robert Vigerii, Gauffredo de Chevigneyo, licentiate of 
laws, the seigniors of Nantes, Gauffredo Piperarii, capi- 
cerio, Peter Hamonis, John Guerrine, John Vaedie, and 
John Symonis, the canons of the Church of the Blessed 
Mary of Nantes and St. Brieuc, Herveo Levy, Seneschal 
Corisopitensi, and master Guillermo de la Loherie, licen- 
tiate of laws, advocate of the secular court of Nantes, 
as well as several other witnesses gathered in [that] 



Gilles's Trial 159 

great crowd, being specially summoned and called for 
the aforesaid things. 

(Signed) " De Alneto. \ 

" Jo. Parvi. [• Notaries." 
" G. Lesne. ) 

By this time all hope seemed to have de- 
parted from Gilles. He had none of the brav- 
ado that sustained him at the beginning of 
the trial. He apparently had recognised his 
condition and had thrown himself upon the 
mercy of God. One can easily understand 
how he was thus affected while under the in- 
fluence of the saintly churchmen by whom he 
was surrounded, with their prayers and be- 
seechings that if his body was to be condemned 
for the deeds done, he should at least save his 
soul from the fires of hell. When Gilles was 
interrogated before the court as to the genu- 
ineness of this confession, and asked if he 
desired to make any retraction or explan- 
ation, he seemed to add to, rather than de- 
tract from, it ; and believing, as was probably 
the truth, that he could only save his soul 
by making a surrender of all his thoughts and 
a confession of all his sins, he seemed to insist 
on having the record of his crimes made fuller 
and in greater detail, so that none of them, 



i6o Bluebeard 

even with all their horror, should be omitted. 
It was during this session that he used the 
remarkable words partially quoted in the early- 
part of this book, page 7 : 

" If I have so much offended against God, I owe it, 
alas, to the evil direction that I received in my youth. I 
went, at that time, the reins upon my neck, free to pur- 
sue all my pleasures, and did not restrain myself from 
anything evil." 

And addressing himself to the parents in the 
crowd, he said : 

" O you, who have sons and daughters, I pray you to 
instruct them in good doctrine in their infancy and 
their youth, and to lead them with care in the paths of 
virtue." 

The relief produced on his mind by his con- 
fession, casting off the great load he had been 
carrying, caused his spirits to rise to a contem- 
plation of the situation, which produced a calm, 
if not a joy, in the assurance that he had made 
his peace with God and secured a place in 
Paradise. Apparently stimulated by this feel- 
ing, he grew eloquent, and though some of 
the words may have been put into his mouth 
by those who reported him, yet one can easily 
see that he was filled with emotion, and that 



Gilles's Trial i6i 

the thoughts crowded thick upon him because 
of his belief that in this way his soul had es- 
caped hell fire : 

" Judged by the declaration that I have made here, of 
the faults of which I am culpable, by the shame which 
appears in my face, I hope to obtain more easily the 
Grace of God and the remission of my sins. I think 
they will be easier forgotten in His mercy. My entire 
youth was passed in the delicacies of the table, I was 
subject to my caprices, nothing to me was sacred, all 
the evils that I could do have been accomplished. In 
this I put all my hope, all my thought, all my care. 
Everything that was prohibited, everything that was dis- 
honest, attracted me, and in order to obtain it there was 
no means, however shameful and disgraceful, that I was 
not ready to employ." 

Addressing himself this time to the public 
present, he said : 

" Fathers and mothers who hear me, and you all, 
friends, relatives, and guardians of the young whom you 
love, whoever you may be, I pray you be watchful over 
them, form for them good manners, set for them a good 
example, teach them healthy doctrine, nourish them in 
your hearts, but above all, do not fear to correct their 
faults, for, as I myself have been, so is it possible for 
them to become, and so likewise, they may fall into the 
same abyss." 

As he sat down amidst the silence of that 



1 62 Bluebeard 

awful hour, a visible shudder ran over the audi- 
ence ; judges and priests, accustomed, one to 
condemn, the other to console, both hearing 
these terrible confessions of evil deeds, were 
visibly affected. Before any word or business 
could be spoken, Gilles arose again to say 
another word : 

" Whatever may be the perils of my soul, I am still not 
drowned or lost — I am redeemable, and I believe that the 
clemencies of God and the suffrages of the holy Church, 
in which I have always put my hope and my heart, have 
succoured me with such mercy. To all who hear me, 
clerks and priests of the Church, I would say : love al- 
ways our holy Mother Church, revere her, give to her 
always the greatest respect. If I had not had this rev- 
erence and respect for her in my heart and in my afflic- 
tion, I never would have been able to escape the hands 
of the demon. The nature of my crimes .is such, that 
without the protection of the Church, the demon would 
have strangled me and carried me, soul and body, to the 
depths." 

It is reported that, addressing for a third 
time the fathers of families, he said : 

** Guard you well, I pray you, to lift your infants above 
the delicacies of life and the fatal sweetness of idleness, 
for the excesses of appetite and the habits of idleness 
give rise to the greatest evils. Idleness, the delicacies 
of the table, the frequent use of wine, drinking, appetite, 
drunkenness, these things are the causes of my faults 



Gilles's Trial 163 

and my crimes. O God, my Creator and my well-be- 
loved Redeemer, I ask mercy and pardon ! And you, 
parents and friends of the infants that I have so cruelly 
put to death, you against whom I have sinned and whom 
I have so nearly destroyed, present or absent, in what- 
ever place you may be, as Christians and faithfuls of 
Jesus Christ, I pray you on my knees and with tears, to 
accord to me, oh, to give to me, the succour and aid of 
your pious prayers." 

The effect of these words can be better un- 
derstood than described. Amid the impress- 
ive silence of such a spectacle, nothing was 
to be said. The court adjourned until the 
next day, Tuesday, October 25th, and the 
crowd poured silently and sorrowfully into 
the streets on their way to their homes, each 
heart filled with the most profound emotions, 
and each person cherishing the remembrance of 
the most solemn scene he had ever witnessed 
and the gravest advice he had ever heard. 

The session of the next day was to hear the 
sentence of the court. It had been reduced 
to writing, and was read by the clerk, Jacques 
Pencoetdic, an official of the church of Nantes : 

" In the holy name of Christ, we, Jean, Bishop of 
Nantes, and Brother Jean Blouyn, Bachelor of Holy 
Scripture of the order of Friars Preachers and the Dele- 
gate for the Inquisitor for heresy for the city and dio- 



1 64 Bluebeard 

cese of Nantes, in session as attributed, and having 
nothing before our eyes but God alone, the advice and 
consent of our Lord Bishop, the Jurisconsuls, the doc- 
tors, professors of Holy Scripture here present ; after 
having examined all the depositions of the witnesses in 
charge called in our own name and in the name of the 
prosecutor deputised by us, against Gilles de Retz, our 
subject, and under our jurisdiction, after having reduced 
to writing and digested the depositions, after having 
heard his own proper confession made spontaneously in 
our presence, and after having weighed and considered 
these and all other reasons which can affect our deter- 
mination, we pronounce, we decide, we declare, that 
thou, Gilles de Retz, cited before our tribunal, art shame- 
fully culpable of heresy, apostacy, invocation of demons ; 
that for these crimes, thou hast incurred the sentence of 
excommunication and all the other punishments deter- 
mined by right and by law ; and, finally, thou oughtest 
to be punished and corrected according to the will of 
the law and the exigencies of the holy canons, as an 
heretic, apostate, and invocator of demons." 

The second sentence was in similar language, 
concluding, however, as follows : 

" Thou, Gilles de Retz, hast shamefully committed 
crimes with infants of one or the other sex ; thou hast 
committed sacrilege ; hast violated the immunities of 
the Church ; by these crimes, thou hast incurred the 
sentence of excommunication and all other punishments 
fixed by law ; and thou art, by consequence, to be 
punished and corrected according to thy salvation and 
the will and exigencies of law and the holy canons." 



Gilles's Trial 165 

All Gilles's fears returned when he realised 
that he was to be convicted of heresy and con- 
demned to excommunication. Falling on his 
knees, tears in his eyes, trembling, he humbly 
pleaded and begged the judges to lift from his 
life, now so near ended and so worthless, this ex- 
communication. After consultation together, 
it was determined by the Bishop and the Vice- 
Inquisitor to grant this prayer, and the decree 
of excommunication was annulled in the usual 
form. Gilles was admitted to the administra- 
tion of the Holy Sacraments, and permission 
given him to commune with the faithful. 
Gilles immediately demanded the appointment 
of a priest to hear him in confession, that he 
might profess his penitence and receive absolu- 
tion from his sins, and the Frere Jean Juvenal, 
a Carmelite of Plouarmel, was designated for 
that purpose. 

So terminated the ecclesiastical trial of Gilles 
de Retz. It commenced on the 1 7th of Sep- 
tember and lasted one month and eight days. 
It ended in his conviction of the only crimes 
of which the ecclesiastical court had jurisdic- 
tion, to wit, heresy, apostacy, and invocation of 
demons. The sentence was excommunica- 
tion, which, we have seen, was lifted, and the 



1 66 Bluebeard 

final outcome of this trial was the repentance 
of Gilles de Retz. 

Now we turn to the process instituted by 
the civil tribunal for the trial of Gilles upon 
other charges than those of which he was con- 
victed by the ecclesiastical court. The usual 
close of the sentence of an ecclesiastical court, 
wherein the accused was charged with other 
crimes than those with which the court had 
jurisdiction, would be : " Go in peace, the 
Church can no longer defend thee, she delivers 
thee to the secular arm " {bras sdculier). But 
this declaration was not made; it was useless, 
for it was well known to the judges that the 
civil court had already been organised and 
had taken cognisance and jurisdiction of the 
various crimes of Gilles, such as had been 
charged and so well proved before the ecclesi- 
astical court. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Trial before the Civil Court 



Trial before the Civil Court — Depositions- 
Sentence 



■Conviction and 



UPON the arrest of Gilles and his hench- 
men, and during their trial before the 
ecclesiastical court, the army of retainers which 
had been employed by him, including his 
chapel and all his familiars, fled as would a 
flock of young chickens on the approach of a 
hawk. Frangois Prelati, Eustache Blanchet, 
Henriet Griard, and Poitou seem to have been 
all who were arrested with Gilles. Gilles de 
Sille and Roger de Briqueville had fled to the 
south before the blow fell. The rest got un- 
der cover as quickly as possible; instead of 
standing by their master, they got as far away 
from him as they could. Gilles was the only 
one tried by the ecclesiastical tribunal. No 

167 



1 68 Bluebeard 

particular reason has been given why Frangois 
and Blanchet were not tried with him, for they 
were undoubtedly guilty, equally with Gilles, 
of the charges of sorcery and invocation of 
demons ; but they were priests, one of them 
an Italian priest, and whether they were 
promised freedom in consideration of their 
testimony against Gilles, is now unknown. 

When, on the 19th of October, it had been 
decided by the ecclesiastical court to apply the 
torture to Gilles, it was done on the confes- 
sions of his accomplices. Why Frangois Pre- 
lati and Eustache Blanchet had been excused 
or overlooked is, as has been said, unknown ; 
but Henriet Griard and Poitou were then de- 
livered to the civil court for trial. This civil 
court was presided over by Pierre de 1' Hospital, 
who, as has been seen, had assisted in the ec- 
clesiastical court, and was necessarily officially 
cognisant of the developments. Pierre de 
r Hospital was the chief justice of the duchy of 
Brittany, and the civil courts were under his 
authority ; so immediately after the confes- 
sions of Henriet and Poitou, they were trans- 
ferred to the civil authorities, and Pierre de 
r Hospital, as supreme judge, brought them 
before the court on the 20th or 21st of Octo- 



The Trial before the Civil Court 169 

ber. The civil court held its session at the 
Bouffay, then, and until 1848, the Palais de 
Justice. The Bouffay had been a castle, but 
had been reconstructed and used as the Palais 
de Justice during many centuries. It was in 
proximity to the Chateau de Nantes. It was 
enclosed in a high wall, possibly to make a 
jail-yard, and occupied the present Place, or 
Market, Bouffay. 

It was within this palace yard that the cele- 
brated trial by duel took place, by direction or 
authority of the Duke of Brittany, between 
Count Robert Beaumanoir and Sieur Pierre 
Tournemine, on a charge of murder made by 
the former against the latter. 

The castle, or palace, has been destroyed, as 
well as the wall, and it now stands all open. 
One side of the Place abuts on the river 
Loire, adjoining the Bridge de la Poissonerie, 
over which the prisoners were taken to the 
Prairie Madeleine, the place of execution. 

The proceedings of the civil court need not 
be followed in their details. Preparing for the 
trial, as is the custom of criminal courts in 
France, the prosecutor called the witnesses 
before him, and took down their depositions, 
and it is worth our while to pause and exam- 



1 70 Bluebeard 

ine the record as it appears in the archives of 
the department of Loire-Inferieure. 

The records of the two trials, the ecclesi- 
astical and the civil, on file in the Depart- 
mental Archives, are unequal in the extent 
and detail with which they have been respect- 
ively reported. It is to be explained that it is 
a considerable work, and scarcely possible to 
have been completed in all its parts as the trial 
progressed, without immense labour on the 
part of the clerks and notaries. The proceed- 
ings of the ecclesiastical court, reported in 
Latin, comprise three hundred and eight pages^ 
of which the photograph on page 137 of this 
memoir is a sample. The proceedings of the 
civil court, in French, comprise a hundred 
and nine pages, the two together making four 
hundred and twenty pages in parchment, with- 
out including the sentence, which was in Latin, 
much mixed with French. The sentence is 
about the size of the original Declaration of 
Independence of the United States. It is 
said to have been written in its entirety in a 
single night, and an inspection of it corrobor- 
ates the story, for it bears evidence, by way 
of erasures and interlineations, of haste and 
rapid work. 



The Trial before the Civil Court 171 

The report of the evidence in the ecclesias- 
tical trial is not nearly so satisfactory, nor has 
it been recorded so clearly, or with so much 
detail, as was that in the civil court. It is 
also much more convenient to render that of 
the civil trial, and the author has, therefore, 
used it in making a transcript. (Appendix D.) 

It must not be forgotten that the evidence 
was taken by deposition, out of court ; that it 
was rendered, not in the language of the wit- 
ness, but of the scribe. The depositions were 
not signed by the witnesses, but were reported 
to the court under the signature of the notary 
or commissioner. Eighty-six witnesses were 
examined, and their testimony appears to have 
been reduced to writing by Jean Colin, and 
certified to by Jean de Touscheronde. The 
dates of the various sessions are not given, 
but each witness, or each batch of witnesses, 
appears to have been examined independently 
and certified to separately. This examination 
of witnesses in the civil court seems to have 
begun about as early as did that in the eccle- 
siastical trial, for the first record is under date 
of September 18, 1440. For the purpose of 
showing the style of the French language in 
use at that time, that it may be compared with 



1 72 Bluebeard 

modern French, and the changes noted, the 
heading of these depositions is here repro- 
duced textually : 

"September 18, 1440. 
" Informacion et enqueste a trouver, se estre peut, que 
le sire de Rais, ses gens et complices, ont prins et fait 
prandre pluseurs petiz enffans et autresgens, etlesmurtriz 
et occiis pour en avoir le sang, le cueur, le faye et autres 
parties d'elx, pour en faire sacrifice au deable, et autres 
malefices, de quoy il est grant clamour. Celle enqueste 
faite par Jehan de Touscheronde, commissaire de due, 
nostre souverain seigneur, en ceste matere, appell6 Jehan 
Colin, pour le prouchain tesmoign que eust en sa com- 
paignie, le xviii* jour de septembre, I'an mil IIII C 
quarante. 

Before reporting the testimony in the depo- 
sitions against Gilles de Retz, and that it may 
be better understood, it should be explained 
that there were two methods pursued by Gilles 
in the abduction of children : one, the secret 
and forcible abduction, and the other the hir- 
ing of the child for service as a page, or his 
being taken with the consent of the parents on 
a pretended duty, by which he should be at- 
tached to the retinue of the Baron. Both 
systems were pursued, and, it is believed, al- 
ways by the followers and "familiars" of the 
Baron, for it does not appear that he was ever 



The Trial before the Civil Court 173 

personally engaged in either. The demand 
of the parent for the presence of the child 
was always put off by indefinite statements : 
the boy was at another chateau, or he 
had gone with the masters, or men-at-arms, 
and would be absent for an indefinite time ; 
sometimes, that he had gone to a distant pro- 
vince ; other times, that he had fled and was a 
fugitive, and they knew not his whereabouts. 
These were all equivocal responses, and far 
from satisfactor}^ to the demanders ; but out of 
them there grew the reports circulated through 
the country, as set forth in the first pages of 
Chapter IV. 

On the trial, Henriet Griart and Poitou 
made no defence, but pleaded guilty. They 
confessed openly their crime, and being pushed 
to detail, they admitted that they had been 
concerned in the abduction of more than fifty 
children, and Henriet added that during his 
last trip to Jocelyn with Gilles de Retz, he had 
captured three of them with his own hands. 

The confession of Henriet and of Corril- 
laud called Poitou, appears in the records, and 
following it, on October 23d, is the condem- 
nation by the civil court under Pierre de 
r Hospital, as follows : 



174 Bluebeard 

" After the confession of the aforesaid Henriet and 
Poitou, and on the advice of the assistants, advocates and 
others, heard in the case, and considering all the facts, it 
was adjudged and declared by the aforesaid seignior the 
President, that the aforesaid Henriet and Poitou should, 
and ought to be, hung and burned " {penduz et ars). 

But the execution of the sentence was post- 
poned to await the conclusion of the trial of 
Gilles before the ecclesiastical court. 

On the 25th of October, Gilles's sentence was 
passed upon him by the ecclesiastical court, 
and he was turned over to the civil court {bras 
s^culeir). He was delivered to the prison at 
the Bouffay on the same evening, and the next 
morning was brought before the civil court 
with Pierre de 1' Hospital as supreme judge. 
All hope of escape was lost to Gilles, and, like 
his accomplices, he seemed to be more inter- 
ested for the salvation of his soul than care for 
his body. He made no defence, — indeed de- 
fence was useless, for the trial was only a 
formality. Being charged with the crime of 
murder and interrogated as to the facts, he re- 
peated his confession of guilt. 

In the consultation of the court as to the 
sentence, there were some differences of opin- 
ion among the judges. That he merited death, 



The Trial before the Civil Court 175 

there was no question, and that appears to 
have been accepted by all. But as to the 
manner of death and the degree of odium to 
be attached thereto, there was some debate. 
However, as he had been excommunicated by 
the Church, as his accomplices had already 
been sentenced penduz et ars, and as the 
crime shocked all the world who knew of 
it, the argument prevailed that, as Gilles had 
been the chief promoter, and as he and his 
two accomplices had been together in their 
crimes they should not be separated in their 
punishments, and therefore first, a fine should 
be upon him of fifty thousand pounds ; and 
second, that he should be hung and burned 
alive on the gibbet of Piesse. 

Piesse was a little open prairie On the island of 
La Madeleine in the river opposite, forming part 
of the city of Nantes. It was reached by two 
bridges communicating with the Place Bouffay. 

Pierre de 1' Hospital in pronouncing the sen- 
tence upon Gilles, concluded : 

" You have naught to rely upon now but the mercy of 
God ; I ask you so to dispose yourself as to die in good 
state, and to seek repentance for having committed such 
great crimes. To-morrow, at one o'clock, the sentence 
against you will be carried into effect." 



1 76 Bluebeard 

Gllles preferred three petitions, through the 
judge, to the Bishop. One, that the execu- 
tion of the three, himself and his two servants, 
should be at one and the same time, to the 
end that he might comfort and aid them by 
his presence upon that dread occasion ; that 
they should see that his execution actually 
took place, and should not be tormented with 
the thought that either his wealth or power 
could procure the postponement of the execu- 
tion, and finally, or possibly, a pardon. The 
second was, that his ashes might be buried in 
consecrated ground ; and when this prayer was 
granted, he chose the Carmelite church at 
Nantes. The third was, that on the day of 
the execution, a procession of litany, such as 
was common in that country, should be organ- 
ised to make prayers to God for him and his 
two servants, that they might be sustained and 
supported in their repentance, and that their 
salvation might be assured. Accordingly, on 
the morrow, at nine o'clock, this procession 
was organised and marched through the streets 
of the city in the most solemn manner, headed 
by the clergy of all ranks, reciting the prayers 
for the dead. 




CHAPTER VII 

The Execution 

ON October 26, 1440, at eleven o'clock, 
the time fixed, the procession ap- 
proached the prison Bouffay ; Gilles, Henriet, 
and Poitou were brought out, and with this 
long procession for an escort, were conducted 
across the two bridges to the place of execu- 
tion. The two courts, ecclesiastical and civil, 
were present, and it has been said that the 
Duke of Brittany was also present. Three 
gibbets had been erected with their cross- 
arms, and at the foot of each a pile of wood 
and fagots (bucher) was laid. It is need- 
less to describe the details of the execution. 
Some of them may be apocryphal ; they were 
not recorded at the time, and they may have 
been made for the occasion ; in any event, 
they add nothing to the strength of the story. 

177 



1 78 Bluebeard 

It seems agreed, however, that at the given 
signal the three malefactors were suspended 
by ropes from the gibbets, that the wood was 
fired, and that they were hung and burned at 
the same time ; that they died with words of 
repentance upon their lips, expressions of hope 
for pardon from the God whom they had of- 
fended, and stating their hopes and beliefs 
of salvation. There was no sermon, no read- 
ing of sentences, no prolongation of agony. 
Prayers for the dead were continually recited, 
but the execution proceeded with as much ra- 
pidity as possible. 

The historians of the day, Monstrelet, Char- 
tier, Argentre, all agree that the body of Gilles 
was rescued from the flames before it was 
burned to ashes, and enclosed in a coffin and 
carried to the church of the Carmelites at 
Nantes, where it was buried privately and 
without ceremony, while the ashes of the two 
accomplices were scattered to the winds of 
heaven and the waves of the Loire. 

This was the punishment of Gilles de Retz, 
and this the expiation of his crimes. It is 
curious to remark its effect on human nature, 
and how it was regarded by the people. If 
Gilles de Retz had escaped the punishment of 




Grotto of Bonne Vierge de Cree-Lait. 
Expiatory altar of Gilles, erected by his daughter. 



The Execution 179 

liis crimes, the whole country would have been 
in arms, and he would have been denounced 
in the fiercest terms, as the most execrable of 
human beings. But, after having suffered this 
terrible punishment before the eyes of all men, 
and it was thus made known throughout the 
country, the spirit of hate and vengeance 
seems to have turned to pity, and sorrow and 
grief seem to have taken their places. 

In commemoration of his sufferings, an altar 
was erected in his memory and to his name, 
upon the spot where he died. A niche was 
made for the reception of a statue, though 
none appears to have been erected, and, un- 
explainable as it is, — almost marvellous, — it 
came in after years to be called the altar of 
the '* Bonne Vierge de Cree-Lait." The spot 
where was executed this man, who had deci- 
mated Brittany by the abduction and murder 
of its infants, came in a superstitious manner 
to be esteemed as a place of value in furnish- 
ing milk for nursing mothers. Offerings of 
flowers and similar objects were frequently 
placed upon the altar to secure the good 
offices of Saint Anne, who was supposed to 
have it in charge. This is evidence, not only 
of the instability of the judgment of the mult- 



i8o Bluebeard 

itude and the changeableness of the public, 
but the elusiveness of and want of dependence 
in tradition. 

The family of Gilles seem to have made no 
demonstration, not even an appearance, dur- 
ing this trying time. No record or mention 
is made of their presence at the trial, or of 
any interest therein. His widow married 
within the year, and his daughter Marie, then 
about fifteen years of age, married within two 
years, after his death. His widow married 
Jean de Vendome, and the daughter's first 
husband was Pregent de Coetivy, Admiral of 
France. These united in a Mdmoire ad- 
dressed to the King of France, to save the 
property that had belonged to Gilles de Retz 
from confiscation by the Duke of Brittany. Pre- 
gent de Coetivy was killed on June 20, 1450, 
during the siege of Cherbourg, by a cannon- 
shot. His widow (Gilles's daughter) married, 
for a second husband, Andre de Laval, her 
cousin. She died, without issue, November i, 
1457, and was buried in the Church of Notre 
Dame, at Vitre. Rene de la Suze, brother of 
Gilles, married Anne de Champagne. He 
left a daughter, Jeanne de Retz, who married 
Fran9ois de Chauvigny, the Prince of Deol, 



The Execution 



i8i 



April II, 1446. They had one child, a son, 
Andre de Chauvigny, who died, unmarried, in 
1502. And thus, within sixty-two years after 
the death of Gilles de Retz, his family became 
€xtinct. 




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APPENDIX A 

Mother Goose Publications 



Nearly every publisher in France, and many of those 
in England and the United States^ have issued editions 
of Mother Goose stories. Most of those from France 
have been reprints, with variation, of the originals by 
Perrault: Boussod; B. Bernardin; Biblioth. Nat. ; MM. 
Chavery; Dentu; Flammarion; Boulanger; Lemerre; 
Bornemann; Cattier; Duploy^; Fayard; E. Gu^rin; 
Hachette; G. Delarue; Garnier Freres; Magnin. 

The editions of Mother Goose fairy tales and nursery 
rhymes in England and the United States are given in 
the publishers' catalogues with essays on the same sub- 
ject as follows: 

MOTHER GOOSE: 

The Original Mother Goose's Melodies as First Issued about ijbo. 

W. H. Whitmore. 1890. Munsell. 
Fairy Tales of Mother Goose, first collected by Perrault, 1696. 

1892. Damrell. 

Favourite Rhymes from Mother Goose. Maud Humphrey. 1891- 

1893. Stokes. 

Nursery Rhymes, Tales, and yingles. 1890. Routledge. 
CiSM/if J ^^j' y/i?j, with notes and vocabulary. 1884. Macmillan, 

183 



1 84 Bluebeard 

Fairy Tales. 1877-1882. Routledge. 

Tales from Perrault, translated by J. R, Planche, i860. 1891. 
Routledge. 

Mother Goose, or the Old Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated by K. 
Greenaway, 1881. Routledge. 

Mother Goose Goslings. E. W. Talbot. Cassell, P., G. & Co. 

Mother Goose Rhymes, with silhouette illustrations by J. F. Good- 
rich, 1S77. 1879. Lee & Shepard. 

Mother Goose Masquerades. Mrs. E. D. Kendall, Lee & Shep- 
ard. 

Mother Goose Melodies. Illustrated. 1879. Lippincott. 

Mother Goose Melodies, with Chimes, Rhymes, and yingles, with 
pictures designed by Billings and engraved by Hartwell. 1878. 

Mother Goose Set to Music. New edition. Illustrated. 8°. 1877. 
McLoughlin. 

Mother Goose Fairy Tales, illustrated by eminent artists. 1877. 
New edition, 1S82. Routledge. 

Mother Goose Melodies, or Songs for the N'ursery. Illustrated in 
color by A. Kappes. 1879. Houghton, Osgood & Co. 

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. Collection of alphabets, rhymes, 
tales, and jingles. Illustrated. 1876. New edition, 1882. 
Routledge. 

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated. 1877. McLoughlin. 

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. Illustrated. 
1877. Routledge. 

Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. 1 89 1. Routledge. 

Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. 1892-1896. Nister. 

"Mother Goose's Melodies." Joel Benton. New York Times, 
Saturday Review, Feb. 5, 1899. 

" Who Was Mother Goose?" Thomas Wilson. St. Nicholas. 

An investigation of the foregoing volumes will show a 
series of Mother Goose stories other than those written 
by Perrault. These are well-known rhymes and jingles 
principally from England, and are of indefinite and un- 
determined age. 

The edition above mentioned by W. H. Whitmore, 



Appendix 



i8s 



gives its history of the English and American Mother 
Goose. The collection was first made for and by John 
Newbery of London, about a.d. 1760. Its popularity 
was due to the Boston editions of Monroe & Francis, 
A.D. 1824-1860. 

The first rhyme in these editions was styled " A Love 
Song" : 

" There was a little man, 

Who wooed a little maid ; 
And he said, ' Little maid, 
Will you wed, wed, wed ? ' " 

Mr. Whitmore examines the claim made for the first 
time in 1856 that the origin of these melodies was due to 
Mrs. Elizabeth Goose, or Vergoose, of Boston, and that 
her son-in-law, Thomas Fleet, published a volume con- 
taining them in 17 19, and pronounces the claim without 
foundation. 





APPENDIX B 

Bluebeard Stories 

The story of Bluebeard has permeated modern litera- 
ture. Reference is made to some of its publications. 

It appeared as a comedy with three acts, under the 
name of Barbe-Bleue. The music was by Gretry, and it 
was presented for the first time at Paris in the Theatre 
des Italiens in 1789, 

Another was an opera bouffe written by MM. Henry 
Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, music by Offenbach, pre- 
sented for the first time at Paris in the Theatre des 
Varidt^s in 1866. 

Monsieur Charles Lemire published, in 1894, a lyric 
representation with music, dances, etc., in four parts and 
ten scenes, entitled Barbe-Bleue (I e sire de Rais). Some 
of the scenes represented the interior of the Hotel de la 
Suze, the public square at Nantes, the Chateau de 
Tiffauges, the gate of Machecoul (the arrest), Chateau de 
Nantes (the trial), Prairie Piesse (the execution), ending 
with an allegoric apotheosis. 

A Picardy romance of Comte Ory was rendered by 
Scribe and Rossini into an opera in which the charac- 
teristics of Gilles de Retz were presented in the hero. 

186 



Appendix 187 

Walkenaer has investigated, with marvellous patience, 
the tradition of Bluebeard, and has sought to trace it 
throughout its various ramifications in literature. 

La Rousse in his Great French Dictionary of the XlXth 
Century^ under the title of Barbe-JBleue, introduces quo- 
tations from French litterateurs who have referred to 
Bluebeard: J. Sandeau, Toussenel, H. de Balzac, Ch. 
Nadar, Max. du Camp, Oct. Feuillet. 

Essays or volumes on Bluebeard have appeared either 
separately or in magazines or newspapers as shown in the 
following list: 

"Bluebeard." E. Vizelly. Gentlemen's Magazine, N. S., vol. 

xxii,, p. 368. 

T. C. WOOLSEY. Lakeside, vol. v., p. 314. 

Origin of Story of. W. C. Taylor. Bentley, vol. xxiii,, p. 136. 

Original. Once a Week, vol. xviii., p. 15. 

Rehabilitated, Verses. W. H. Harrison. Dub. Univ., vol. 

xc, p. 728. 
"Bluebeard's Ghost." W. M. Thackeray. Fraser, vol. xxviii., 

p. 413- 
"Bluebeard's Keys." Cornn., vol. xxiii., pp. 192, 688. Same 

article Living Age, vol. cviii., p. 685 ; vol. ex., p. 139. 
"Bluebeard." H. C. Lea. Nation, vol. xliii., p. 377. 
" Gilles de Retz, Baron de : Original Bluebeard." L. Frechette. 

Arena, vol. i., p. 141. 
" Bluebeard, Case of." P. Edwards. Green Bag, •vo\.\.,-^.^\'^T>. 
" Marechal de Retz," Belgra, vol. Ixxx., p. 58. 
Gilles de Retz {Barbe-Bleue). L'Abbe Eugene Bossard. 1886. 

H. Champion. 
Barbe-Bleue, de la Ldgende et de VHistoire. Ch. Lemire. 1886. 

Ernest Leroux. 

The works of Abb6 Bossard and M. Charles Lemire 
have been issued since the author left Nantes. Much of 
the matter in this paper was prepared before these vol- 



1 88 Bluebeard 

umes were issued. But the author has not scrupled to 
use them, as he has those of Michelet, Monstrelet, or 
Gu^pin, or to verify from them what he has written, 
especially their later rendition of the archives. He had 
access to these records equally with these gentlemen, but 
he freely acknowledges the aid received from the printed 
copy of ancient manuscripts, the difficulties of which will 
be apparent on an examination of the photographic copy 
on page 137. 

M. Paul Sauniere published in the PubliciU 2X Nantes, 
a feuilleton entitled Barbe-Bleue, and a novel entitled 
The Black Douglas, by S. R. Crockett, lately published, 
and a book entitled La Bas, by Huysmanns, all deal 
with Gilles de Retz. 





APPENDIX C 

Mystery of the Siege of Orleans 

Abb6 Bossard is authority for the statement that the 
unique and original manuscript of the Mystery of Orleans 
in modern times is in the library of the Vatican, No. 
I022, registered under de la reine de Suede (Queen of 
Sweden). This copy came from the library de Fleury 
or of Saint-Henoit-sur-Loire. It was written, he says, 
in the second half of the sixteenth century, and made a 
quarto volume of 509 leaves with 20,529 lines, and its 
author is unknown. It was published for the first time 
(from the manuscript in the Vatican library in 1862), by 
MM. Guessard et de Certain, and forms part of the great 
collection of documents tnddtts de rhistoire de France. 
Quicherat says that the first author in modern times to 
mention the Mystery of the Siege of Orleans was M, Paul 
Lacroix in his Dissertation sur quelques points curieux de 
rhistoire de France (Paris, 1839). M. Adelbert Keller in 
his i^^^/z/dir/ (Mannheim, 1844), gave a more extended no- 
tice with extracts. M. Salmon, a student in the ^cole des 
Charles, made elaborate notes of the Vatican MSS., which 
notes fell into the hands of M. Quicherat while writing his 
Frocis de condemnation et rehabilitation de Jeanne d^ Arc. 



190 Bluebeard 

Extracts from the " Mystery of the Siege of Orleans " 
as acted by Gilles de Retz 

According to this drama, it was Gilles de Retz, with 
Ambroise de Lore, who were charged by the king to con- 
duct and act as guards for Joan of Arc from Blois to 
Orleans, 

There is in the drama or poem the following speech 
made by the King to the Maid, directing her to go to 
Orleans: 

" Et pour vous conduire voz gens 
Aurez le mar^chal de Rais, 
Et ung gentilhomme vaillant 
Ambroise de Lore ares; 
Esquelz je commande expres 
Ou il vous plaisa vous conduisent, 
En quelque lieu, soit loing, soit pres." 

The Marshal de Retz says to the Maid: 

** Dame, que vous plaist il de faire ? 
Nous sommes au plus pres de Blois; 
Se vous y voulez point retraire 
Et reposer deux jours ou trois, 
Pour savoir oti sont les Anglois, 
Aussi pour rafrachir vos gens, 
Ou se vous aymez mieulx aingois 
Aller droict jusques h. Orleans ? " 

To which the Maid responded : 

" Monseigneur, je suis bien contans 
Que ^ Blois donques nous allons, 



Appendix 191 

Pour noz gens la centre atmendans; 
Ce pendant, aussi penserons 
De noz affaires, et manderons 
Es Anglais que devant Orleans 
S'en voisent, ou combatuz seront, 
En mon Dieu, de moy et mes gens." 



The Marshal to the Maid: 

" Madame, tout incontinant, 
Vostre vouloir acomplirons ; 
Nous ferons assembler noz gens, 
Et presentement partirons. 
Droit k Orleans, nous nous menrons, 
Dame Jehanne, sans plus atendre." 

The Maid responded : 

" Je vous empry, faictes le dont, 
Et vous pry y vueillez entendre." 



A discussion took place as to the proper route to fol- 
low. The Marshal thus expressed himself: 

" Je doute aller par la Beausse: 
Le plus fort des Anglois y est, 
Toute leur puissance et force, 
Et tout le pays k eulx est. 
Y nous pourroient donner arrest, 
S'i savoyent nostre venue, 
Et peut estre grant interest 



192 Bluebeard 

Seroit a nostra survenue. 
Si me semble que vauldroit mieulx 
Y aller devers la Sauloigne: 
Le dangier n'est pas si perilleux 
Et n'y a pas fort grant esloigne. 
Mieulx vault faire nostra besoigne, 
Et le dangier passer ainsi, 
Entret par la porte Bourgoigne, 
Et yrons passer a Checy." 

Ambroise de Lor^ responds: 

" Vous avez tres bien devis6, 
A Checy, nous y fault aller; 
Et est a vous bien advis6: 
Vous ne pourriez mieulx conseiller. 
Si n'en conviendra point parler 
A la Pucelle nullement; 
Si non que on la veult mener 
Droit k Orleans, tant seullement." 

This resolution being taken, Jean de Metz asked if it 
was not time to notify the Maid ; to whom Gilles ex- 
pressed his readiness to depart instantly: 

" Je suis prest aussi, par mon ame, 
A aller quant elle vouldra. 
Dame, se il vous plaist partir. 
Voicy en point trestouz vos gens, 
Pour vostre vouloir accomplir 
A vous convoyer a Orleans." 

The Maid responded: 



Appendix 193 



En mon Dieu, croy que il est tant 
Et avons beaucoup demeur6, 
Que, ainsi comme je I'entend, 
Orleans a beaucoup endur^." 



The Marshal to the Maid on their arrival at Checy: 

" Dame Jehanne, la Dieu mercy, 
Vous estes bien icy venue. 
En ceste ville de Checy, 
Sans nulle fortune avoir eue. 
Vous n'estes pas que a une lieue 
D' Orleans, comme je puis entendre; 
Ferons icy une repeue, 
Puis a Orleans yrons descendre." 



The English are put to flight; the Maid, about to re- 
turn to the King, says to her companions in arras: 

" Si est le baron de Colonnes, 
Viendra avecq moy, si luy plaist. 
De par moy luy prie et denonces 
Que luy et ses gens soient prest, 
Avecques le sire de Rais, 
Se c'est son plaisir y venir. 
Je les en supplie par exprest 
Compaignie me veullent tenir." 

The Sire of Colonnes accepts the invitation, as does 
the Baron de Retz, who says: 



194 



Bluebeard 



Aussi moy, dame, ne doubtez. 
Faire vueil ce qui vous plaira; 
Mes aliez et depputez, 
Dame, sachez, tout y vendra. 
Et vostre voloir on fera 
Du tout en tout, a vostre guise, 
Et quand vouldrez on partira, 
En faisant a vostre devise." 



The Maid to both: 



Mes bons seigneurs, je vous mercie, 

Tant comme faire je le puis, 

De vostre haulte courtoisie. 

Nobles, vaillans princes gentilz 

Quant ainsi vous estes soubmis 

A mes bons voloirs acomplir. 

Je vous en rens cinq cens mercis 

Qu'i vous plaist cest honneur m'offrir.** 




APPENDIX D 

Depositions against Gilles 

The Depositions in the Civil Court 

Peronne Loessart of Rochebernart, makes oath that 
the Baron de Retz, on returning from Vannes with his 
retinue, stopped in her town, at the Hotel of Jean Colin, 
in the immediate neighbourhood of her house. She had 
a son ten years of age then going to school whom one of 
the retinue of Gilles, called Poitou, desired to obtain as 
his page. It was agreed that he should have four pounds 
{livres) for his services, and Peronne, cent souls {sous), 
five francs, for a dress, and Poitou should continue the 
boy at school. A pony was bought from the hotel- 
keeper for the boy to ride, and he departed on the mor- 
row in the company. She talked with Gilles de Retz, 
and he commended her wisdom in placing the boy, and 
assured her it would be for her and his advantage. She 
had never seen her son afterwards, though this had taken 
place two years before. On a future journey, she had 
met the servants of Gilles, and on demanding news of 
her son, was informed that he was either at Tiffauges or 
Pouzauges. (Signed) De Touscheronde.' 

'The depositions were all signed by Touscheronde and some 
other. 

195 



196 Bluebeard 

Jean Colin, his wife Olive, and her mother, support 
Peronne, and Colin says that he sold Poitou a pony for 
the sum of LX s., on which the boy was mounted and 
departed with the rest of the company, 

Jean le Meignen, his wife, Allain Dulis, Perrot Du- 
pouez, Guillaume Ganton, Guillaume Portuys, Jean le 
Fevre, clerc, all of Saint Etienne de Montluc (Loire- 
Inferieure) depose on their oaths that since about three 
years ago they had known a Guillaume Price of their 
parish. He was a mendicant and had a son about eight 
or nine years of age named Jamet ; that the father was 
now dead about one year; that last Saint John's day the 
said child disappeared and had never been heard of since 
in the neighbourhood. No one knew what had become 
of him. He was last seen near the wood of Saint 
Etienne, and Dupouez says that about the same time he 
met a woman of fifty or sixty years, hardened and strong, 
with a visage vermailU (bronzed), supposed to be la 
Meffraye, who, it was believed, had abducted the boy. 
She was making her way towards Nantes. 

Guillaume Fouraige, his wife Jehanne, the wife of 
Jean le Flou, Richarde, wife of Jean Gaudeau, from the 
Port de Launay near Coueron (Loire-Inferieure), record 
on their oaths the loss of the son, an infant of about 
twelve years, of Jean Bernart, their neighbour; that he 
started in the direction of Machecoul to ask alms (on a 
begging expedition) from which he had never returned, 
nor had anybody in their neighbourhood ever received 
news of him. The woman, Fouraige, told of meeting or 
seeing an old woman with a gray gown and black bonnet 
(supposed to be Meffraye) with a young boy in her com- 
pany, who said she was on her way to Machecoul. In 



Appendix 197 

two or three days she returned alone. Being asked what 
had become of the child, she responded that she had 
placed him to live with a good master. 

28, 29, and 30 September, 1440. 

Andr6 Barbe, shoemaker, living at Machecoul, says 
that since Easter he has heard that the son of Georget le 
Barbier has been lost; that he (the witness) had seen the 
boy on a certain day gathering apples in the rear of the 
hotel Rondeau, and since that time he had never been 
seen in the neighbourhood; that the mothers of the 
neighbourhood had great fear for the loss of their child- 
ren and guarded them very closely. He had been at 
Saint Jean d'Angely where some of the residents de- 
manded whence he came, and when he said " from 
Machecoul," they responded, " That is the place where 
they eat the small children." He recounts the loss of 
several other children from his neighbourhood : Guil- 
laume Jeudon, Jehannot Roucin, Alexandre Chastelier. 
He had heard at the church of Trinity de Machecoul, a 
stranger in search of his child of seven years, who had 
been gone for eight months or more. 

Jehannet, wife of Guillaume Sergent, of Saint Croix 
de Machecoul, said that during the Pentecost a year be- 
fore, she and her husband went to dig the field to sow 
hemp, leaving in their house a son of eight years to care 
for a baby one and a-half years. On their return the 
boy was gone and has never been heard of seen since. 

Georget le Barbier, living near the gates of the Chateau 
de Machecoul, deposed that he had a son named Guil- 
laume, of the age of eighteen years, that about the fete 
of Saint Barnabas he went after dinner to Machecoul to 



198 Bluebeard 

^\z.y pelote ; that since vespers of the day on which he 
had played pelote he had never been seen or heard of, 
although he, the father, had made every investigation 
and demand possible. He further says it is notorious 
and the people murmur, saying that infants are murdered 
in the said chateau. He has also heard that the boy who 
was page of Monsieur Francois Prelati, and who lived 
with him, was also lost. 

Guillaume Hylairet, and his wife Jehanne, living at 
Machecoul, have heard say that the son of the said 
Georget le Barbier had been lost, and no one knew where 
he was or what had become of him. They say, further, 
that about eight or seven years ago they had living with 
them a child of twelve years, the son of Jean Jeudon, as 
an apprentice to learn the trade of furrier; that Gilles de 
Sille, accompanied by Roger de Briqueville, had asked 
to send the boy to the chateau of Machecoul with a 
message, which was accordingly done; that the boy 
never returned and was never seen or heard of in the 
neighbourhood; that upon his demand, made to Sill6 
and Briqueville, as to what had become of the boy, they 
responded that he was possibly at Tiffauges, but thought 
some of the larrons (thieves) had carried him off to be 
their page; that he, the witness, knew of the loss of the 
infants of Jehannet Roucin and Alexandre Chastelier; 
that he had heard the parents complain of their loss 
doloreusement. Guillaume says that about five years 
since he heard a man, Jean du Jardin, then living with 
Monsieur Roger de Briqueville, say that they had found 
at the castle of Champtoce a caskful, toute plaine, of 
the bodies of dead infants; that it was common and 
notorious talk that these infants were murdered at the 



Appendix 199 

chateau of Machecoul ; that he has heard the same com- 
plaint made by others, of the perdicton d'autres enffards. 

Jehan Thipholoz, Sr., Jehan Thifoloz, Jr., Jouhan 
Aubin, Clemens Dore, of Tonaye (Charente-Inferieure) 
have heard the complaints of Mathelin Thouars, of the 
same parish, for about half a year, that his son, a child 
about twelve years, had been lost, and that he had no 
knowledge of his whereabouts, nor could he obtain any 
news of him. 

Jehan Roucin, of Machecoul, says that about nine 
years ago his son, a child then about nine years of age, 
was in the field guarding the cattle; at night he did not 
return, and has never returned, nor have they ever had 
any news of him. They were told by a neighbour, since 
dead, that she had seen Gilles de Sill6 with a tabart and 
an estamine (a sort of cloak and veil) going to and 
speaking with the child, whom he conducted to the 
postern-gate of the chateau ; that the complaints of their 
neighbours, especially Jeudon, of the loss of their in- 
fants, are notorious. 

Johanne, widow of Hemery Edelin, and previous wife 
of Jehan Bonneau, of Machecoul, says that she had a 
son of the age of eight years, going to school; that he 
lived with his grandmother near the chateau. About 
eight years ago her child was lost and has never been 
heard of since; that she knew the boy Roucin, and an- 
other of Geudon, which were lost; that about fifteen 
days after, another child, that of Mac^ Sorin, was also 
lost; that this created a great clamour, upon which it 
was explained that these children, with others, had been 
captured to serve as hostages with the English, for the 
deliverance of Monsieur Michel de Sill^, then prisoner, 



200 Bluebeard 

and it was said that the ransom of the said Michel had 
been fixed by the English at twenty-four male infants. 
About two or three years before, the witness had seen, at 
Machecoul, a stranger from Saint Mesme, near Chinon, 
who was crying piteously, complaining of the perdicion of 
his child, but no news had ever been heard. She had 
heard the same complaint from a couple named Aise or 
d'Ays^e. She had also heard of the loss of many other 
infants in Brittany, of which great complaint had been 
made; that seven alone had been lost from Tififauges; 
that they had all been taken from the fields while 
guarding the cattle, and no one knew what had become 
of them or what to do about finding them. 

Mace Serin and his wife recount the loss of several of 
the foregoing, of whom nothing had ever been heard, 
and that it was presumed that they had been taken by 
the English for the ransom and deliverance of Michel de 
Sille, prisoner. 

Perrine, the wife of Clemens Rondeau, of Machecoul, 
declared that Monsieur Francois Prelati, and the Mar- 
quis de Ceva, while part of the retinue of the Baron de 
Retz, were lodged in a chamber of her house ; that she 
heard the Marquis say to Francois that he had found a 
handsome page at Dieppe, at which Francois was joyful; 
that the page came to live with the said Fran9ois, and 
was there for about fifteen days. Upon her demand of 
Francois as to where the boy had gone, and what had 
become of him, Francois responded that he had been 
deceived in him and had sent him away. That Francois 
and Eustache Blanchet also occupied another small house 
in the neighbourhood belonging to Perrot Cahn; that on 
the descent of Jean I'Abb^ there had been found in the 



Appendix 201 

chamber the powdered bones of an infant, or infants, 
and she had seen an infant's bloody chemise, which gave 
forth a bad odour. 

Andr^ Brechet, of the Parish of Saint Croix de 
Machecoul, says that about a year and half before he 
was a watchman, or was watching at the castle of 
Machecoul, and after midnight he fell asleep; he was 
awakened by a contest on the wall in which a large man 
had his naked dagger, and said to the little one by his 
side, ' ' You are dead " {Tu est mort) ; that he, the wit- 
ness, was filled with great fear and quietly escaped. 

Ysabeau, wife of Guillaume Hamelin, makes oath that 
about seven days before the end of the past year, she 
sent her two sons — one fifteen years, the other seven, or 
thereabouts — to the town of Machecoul to purchase 
bread, giving them the money therefor; that they never 
returned, and she has never had any news of or from 
them. She reports having heard a similar story from 
Micheau Bouer and his wife, who had also lost one of 
their infants, who had never since been seen. She was 
supported in the testimony of her loss by Perrot Pas- 
queteau, Jehan Soreau, Katerine de Grepie, Guillaume 
Garnier, Perrine wife of Jehan CaefiEin, Jehanne wife of 
Estienne Landays, and Perrot Soudan. 

Guillemete, wife of Micheau Bouer, declares upon her 
oath that seven days after Easter last, her son of eight 
years, a beautiful white infant, bel efiffant et blafic, went 
to Machecoul; that he never returned and they have 
never received any news, however many searches she and 
her husband have made. That on the day after they had 
given charity at Machecoul for the deceased Mahd Le 
Breton, she, who was guarding the cattle as they grazed. 



202 Bluebeard 

was approached by a large man, in black, who, among 
other things, asked of her where were the children who 
usually guarded the cattle. She said that they had gone 
to Machecoul, when he departed in that direction. 

Guillaume Rodigo, living at Bourgneuf-en-Rais, testi- 
fies to the loss of his apprentice, aged fifteen years. 
Marguerite Sorin, chambermaid for Rodigo, tells how, 
as she and the boy were playing some games together in 
the house after supper, Poitou came and, taking the boy 
apart, talked to him in a low voice. On his departure 
she interrogated the boy as to what was said, but he re- 
fused to tell. Soon after he left the house in his doublet 
without saying where he was going. Since then she has 
never seen him or heard any news of him. They were 
supported by Guillaume Plumet and his wife, and Michel 
Gerart. 

Thomas Ays^e and his wife, living at Machecoul, de- 
clare that at the last fete of Pentecost they sent their son 
of ten years to ask alms at the castle, and that they have 
never seen their son since; he has never returned. They 
heard, from a girl, that she had seen the son at the cha- 
teau, along with others who were also asking alms ; that 
alms were given first to the girls and then to the boys; 
that this girl said she had heard one of the men of the 
castle say to this boy that he had not had any meat (that 
is, to eat), and invite him into the castle to be fed, 
whereupon both entered and the boy was seen no more. 

Jannette, the wife of Eucasse (Eustache ?) Douret, of 
Saint Ligier, declares on oath that about fifteen days 
before Christmas last, having heard that the Baron de 
Retz would give alms, according to the custom in her 
own town, she sent her two boys, one of ten years, the 



Appendix 203 

other of seven, and though some of her neighbours had 
seen them on the way, and at the town of Machecoul, 
she had never seen them since, and although she and her 
husband had made every search, they had obtained no 
news. 

October 2, 1440. 

Jehan de Grepie, Regnaud Donete, of the parish of 
Notre Dame of Nantes, says under oath, that about 
Saint John's day, two years past, she lost a child of about 
twelve years while on his way to school, and since then 
she had never seen him. The only news had been that 
Perrine Martin, a prisoner in Nantes, had confessed that 
she had taken the said child to the Baron de Retz in his 
chamber, at his Hotel de la Suze in Nantes; that the said 
Baron had commanded her to take the child to Mache- 
coul and deliver him to the porter, and this she had done. 
That she had heard Jean Hubert and Denis de Lemyon, 
acquaintances of his, complain each one of having lost a 
son ; that at the time of the loss of his son, Gilles de Retz 
was at his Hotel de la Suze in Nantes, and that the said 
Perrine lived near him. The witness made complaint to 
various of the servants and followers of Gilles at his said 
house (Hotel de la Suze) and she was always told that 
they thought his son had gone to Machecoul to become 
a page. 

Jean Jenvret and his wife, of Nantes, declare their loss 
of a son of nine years in the same way, and by the same 
person as told by Donete. 

Jean Hubert and his wife, of Saint Leonart, in Nantes, 
declare that on Thursday after Saint John's day last, two 
years ago, they lost their son, fourteen years of age; that 



204 Bluebeard 

he made the acquaintance of some of the men servants, 
or followers of Gilles de Retz; that he talked with his 
mother of the promises they had made if he would enter 
the service with them. He recounted how he had seen 
the Baron de Retz in his chamber and waited upon him, 
for which he had received a present of some cake which 
he had brought to his mother; that after his permanent 
entry into the service of the Baron, and his departure 
from Nantes, they had never seen or heard of him more. 

Agaice, wife of Denis de Lemion, says that about a 
year and a half before, her nephew of the age of eighteen 
years, who frequented the Hotel de la Suze, where re- 
sided the Baron de Retz, was approached by one of his 
men, or servants, with an offer to enter the service of the 
Baron, which he did, and has never returned or been 
heard of since. 

Jehanne, wife of Guibelet Delit, declares that during 
the Easter holidays, she lost a child of seven years; that 
he frequented la Suze, where a man named Cherpy had 
persuaded him to join the service of the Baron de Retz. 
This done, she had never seen or had news of her child. 

Jehan Toutblanc, of Saint Etienne de Montluc, 
records that at Saint Julian a year ago, on departing 
from his house, he left it in charge of a young ward of 
fourteen years, named Jean also, for whom he was tutor. 
On his return from his journey, he could not find the boy, 
has never seen him, nor heard any news from him. 

Jean Fougere, of Saint Donacien, near Nantes, records 
that about two years since he lost his son of twelve years, 
a well-favoured boy, and that since that time he has had 
no news as to what became of him. 

Jean Ferot, Guillaume Jacob, Perrin Blanchet, Thomas 



Appendix 205 

Beauvis, Eonnet Jehan, Denis de Lemyon, of the parish 
of Notre Dame, of Nantes, record under their oaths, their 
knowledge concerning the loss of the sons of Jean Hubert, 
Regnaud Donet^, and Guillaume Avril, that complaints 
and public clamour have been heard by these witnesses 
for two years and a half; that for one year past it has 
been commonly said that the Baron de Retz abducts in- 
fants in order to slay them. 

Nicole, wife of Vincent Bonnereau; Philipe, wife of 
Mathis Ernaut; Jehanne, wife of Guillaume Prieur, all 
of the parish of Saint Croix of Nantes, support the claim 
of Jean Jenvret and his wife as to the loss of their son of 
nine years, and that for a year and a half they have 
heard by common report that le sire de Retz and his men 
capture and kill small children. They have also heard 
of the loss of the young son of Eonnet de Villeblanche, 
and that for three months past he has not been seen in 
his neighbourhood nor heard from. 

October 6, 1440. 

Jean Estaisse and Michele, his wife, testify to the loss 
of a boy of the age of eleven years named Perrot Dagaie. 
Relate the notoriety of the rumour that the Baron de 
Retz and his men capture and kill infants. 

Jean Chiquet, parchment-maker, testifies to the evil 
reputation of the Baron de Retz and his men in abduct- 
ing children. 

Pierre Badieu, cloth merchant of Chanteloup, testifies 
to the abduction of two children aged about nine years, 
the infants of Robin Pavot. 

Jean Darel describes his son, who, while the father 
was sick in bed, was captured in the Rue du Mercheil, 



2o6 Bluebeard 

where he was playing with other children; that he has 
no knowledge by whom or where he was taken ; that he 
has never seen or heard of him since. 

Jehanne, wife of Darel, says that on the day of Saint 
Pere (or Pierre) June 29th, one year ago, there was ab- 
ducted from her place in the city of Nantes, her son, 
Olivier, seven or eight years of age, since which time she 
has never seen him nor had any news of him. Her 
mother describes the abduction by saying that she was 
coming from vespers, leading the child; that near the 
church of Saint Saturnine, when in the crowd, somebody 
made away with the child; that she and all his relatives 
sought for him in every direction, but they have never 
seen or heard of him since. 

Eonnette, wife of Jean Bremant, supports the fore- 
going witnesses as to the abduction of Olivier. 

Nichole, wife of Jean Hubert, of the parish of Saint 
Vincent, had a son named Jean of fourteen years of age, 
who was lost or abducted as described by her husband 
aforesaid. She sustains him in his testimony. 

Jean Bureau and his wife, Johanne, Thebault Geoffroi 
and her daughter, and Guillaume Hemeri, support the 
claim of the abduction of the Hubert child. 

De la Grepie, Regnaud Donete, Jean Ferot and his 
wife, Pierres Blanchett, and Guillaume Jacob, all support 
the claim of the abduction of the apprentice, Don^t6, 
heretofore described. 




INDEX 



Abduction of children by Gilles 
de Retz, chap, iv., 64-71, 106, 

195 
Aids, assistants, and familiars of 

Gilles, 71-75 
Allegiance to Duke of Brittany, 

II 
Ancient buildings, description 

of, 46, 47 ; inscriptions on, 

47 

Appendix A, Mother Goose pub- 
lications, 188 

Appendix B, Bluebeard stories, 
186 

Appendix C, Mystery of the 
Siege of Orleans, 189 

Appendix D, Depositions in 
Civil Court against Gilles, 195 

Army service of Gilles, in his- 
tories of France, 22, 23 

Arrest of Gilles, 84-90 

Attack and capture of Raine- 
fort, 17 

B 

Beaumanoir, duel with Tourne- 

mine, 169 
Bishop of Nantes, 80-84, 93-95 > 

100-116, 122, 127, 139 
Blouyn, Jean, Vice-Inquisitor, 

95, 100, 102, 105, 140 



Bluebeard, an infantile classic, 
ix., xiv. ; stories of, Appendix 
B, 186 

" Bonne Vierge de Cree-Lait," 
niche and statue of, 179 

Bouffay, Palais de Justice, 169 ; 
duel between Beaumanoir and 
Tournemine in courtyard of, 
169 

C 

Cathedral of Nantes, 45 
Chateau of Champtoceaux cap- 
tured and John V. released, 11 
Chateau of Malicorne captured, 

17 
Chateau de Clisson transferred 

to Gilles, 12 
Chateau de Nantes, 90-92 (front- 
ispiece); Edictof Nantes signed 
by Henry IV. in, 91 ; prison- 
ers in : Cardinal of Retz, Min- 
ister Fouche, Madam Sevigne, 
and Duchess of Berry, 92 
Citation to Gilles, 82-84 
Confession of Gilles, 135-159 
Coronation of the King, 20 ; 
Gilles guard for the Sainte Am- 
poule at, 20 
Court, officers of, 94-97, 130 ; 
opening of, lOO ; presided over 
by Bishop of Nantes and assist- 
ants, 93 ; records of, 98-101, 
105-108 ; Appendix D, 195 



207 



208 



Index 



Craon, Marie de, mother of \ 

Gilles, 3 
Crimes of Gilles, chap, iv., 64-93 
Criminal law in France and 

other countries, history of, 96 
Criminal practice in France, 

131-133 

D 

Declaration of infamy against 

Gilles, 80-82 
Decree of excommunication, 
124, 164 ; revoked, 126, 165 ; 
in writing, 129 
Depositions against Gilles, 105 ; 

Appendix D, 195 
Duel between Beaumanoir and 

Tournemine, 169 
Duke of Brittany : 

Alliance of, with France, 15- 

16 
I'Abbe, Jean, captain in serv- 
ice of, arrests Gilles, 84, 90 
Blois, family of, John V., 9 
Decree of King against Gilles 

refused by, 60 
Defeat of Blois, peace with 

Montfort, 9 
Favors bishop against Gilles, 

84. 85 
France, alliance with and war 
for, 15, 16 ; history of, 13- 

23 

Gilles's father and family on 
side of Blois, 9 

Imprisonment of, in Chateau 
de Champtoceaux, 11 ; re- 
lease of, II, 15 

Montfort against Penthi^vres 
and Blois, 9 

Nantes, chateau of, castle for 
the Duke, go, 92 

Penthi^vres and Blois con- 
demned and banished, 12, 

13 

Son of a younger son vs. daugh- 
ter of an elder son, 9 

War for the succession of, 9, 11 



E 



Education of Gilles, 6-8 
Espousal of cause of King of 

France by Gilles, 15 
Evidence against Gilles, 105 ; 

Appendix D, 195 
Excommunication of Gilles, 124, 

126, 129, 165 
Execution of Gilles, x., chap. 

vii., 177 
Expenses greater than income, 

resorts to magic, 62, 63 
Extravagance of Gilles, 39, 40, 

50-53, 55, 57, 60 



Family of Gilles, see Gilles de 

Retz 
Folly and ambition of Gilles, 39, 

40 
France, alliance with Brittany, 

15, 16 ; history of, 13-23 
Friends and companions of 

Gilles, 17 



Gilles de Retz : 

Abduction of children by, 64, 
71, 106, 195 

Aids and assistants, familiars 
of : Eustache Blanchet, 
Henriet Griart, Jean Rous- 
signol, Gilles de Sille, Per- 
rin Martin alias'La.MeSra.ye, 
Frangois Prelati, Hugues de 
Bremont, Etienne Corrilaut 
alias Poitou, Robin Romu- 
lart, 71-75 

Allegiance of, to Duke of 
Brittany, 11 

Army service of, in histories of 
France, 22, 23 

Arrest of, 84-90 

Attack and capture of Raine- 
fort by, 17 ; of Lamballe, 
Guingamp, Broon, Mali- 



Index 



209 



GiLLES DE Retz — Continued 
come ; Champtoceaux cap- 
tured and demolished and 
John V. released by, 11 

Chateau de Clisson transferred 
to, 12 

Citation to, 82-S4 

Coronation of the King, guard 
for the Sainte Ampoule at, 
20 

Crimes of, chap, iv., 64-93 

Declaration of infamy against, 
80, 82 

Education of, 6-3 

Espouses cause of King of 
France, 15 

Expenses greater than income, 
resorts to magic and philoso- 
pher's stone, 62, 83 

Family of, (Laval [Montmo- 
rency-Laval], Rais [changed 
to Retz, 15S1], Machecoul, 
Craon), i 

Father, Guy, 1-3; death of, 4 
Mother, Marie de Craon, 3 ; 

remarriage of, 4 

Brother, Rene de la Suze, 4 

Wife, Catherine de Thouars, 

5 ; separated from, 61 ; 

remarriage of, i3o 

Daughter, Marie, married, 

180 ; died, 180 
Grandfather, paternal, Guy 

Bremor, 2, 10 
Grandfather, maternal, Jean 

de Craon, 2, 4 
Grandmother, a sister of 

great Du Guesclin, 2 
Great-grandmother, Jeanne 

la Folle, 2 
After execution of, 180, iSi 

Folly and ambition of, 39, 40 

Friends and companions in 
arms of : Ambroise de Lore, 
Baron Beaumanoir, La Hire, 
17 

Joan of Arc, Gilles is captain 
of guard for, and in service 



with, through France, ix., 
9, 19, Appendix C, 189 

Life of, at home in Brittany 
(1430-1439), 24-63 

Life, pleasure, business, etc., 
of, 27 

Magic, resorts to, in aid of his 
failing fortunes, 61-63 

Maison de la Suze, expensive 
decoration of, 55 

Marriage of, 6 

First and second betrothals, 

fiancees both die, 5 
Married to Catherine de 

Thouars, 5 
Wife's dot, 5 

Marshal of France, 19 

Music, fondness for, 27 

Personal appearance of, 24-27 

Property of, raided by Marga- 
ret de Clisson, 12 
Lands inherited, 2, 5, 28, 

29 
Sales and transfers, 30-32 
Value of, estimated, 30, 39, 
,41, 50,53. 55, 56, 60 

Religious hierarchy of, bishop, 
chapel, paraphernalia, etc., 
27, 23, 41, 48. 53, 54, 57,58 

Ruinous expenditures of, 39, 
40, 50-53, .55, 57, 60 

Search for Elixir of Youth and 
Philosopher's stone, x. 

Siege and capture of Orleans 
by, 19 

Signature and rubric of, 22 

Sixteen years old at commence- 
ment of civil %var, 10, 13 

Soldier (1420-1429), chap, ii., 
19-23 ; for France, 17 

Spendthrift, 53 

Submits to arrest, 86, 89, lOO 

Theatre, love for, and indulg- 
ence in, 33-50 

Trial and execution of, x., 
chaps, v.-vii., 93-1S2 
Before Ecclesiastical Tribu- 
nal, chap, v., 93-166 



2IO 



Index 



GiLLES DE Retz — Continued 
Before Civil Court, chap, v., 

Depositions, Ecclesiastical 
Court, 105 ; Civil Court, 
Appendix D, 195 

Jean Blouyn,Vice-Inquisitor 
and aid to Bishop, com- 
mission of, 102, 103 

Officers of court, 94, 95, 97, 
130 

Opening of court, 100 

Presided over by Bishop of 
Nantes and assistants, 93 

Records of, 98-101, 105- 
108, Appendix D, 195 
Guard of honour at coronation 
of King, 20 



Infamy, declaration of, against 
Gilles, 80-S2 



Joan of Arc, ix., 19, 21-23 
L 

La Hire, prayer of, before as- 
sault on Montargis, 18 

Laval, original family name, 
changed to Rais by will of 
Joan la Sage, 3 

M 
Machecoul, chateau of, i, 2, 5, 

29 

Magic, resort of Gilles to, to aid 
his failing fortunes, 61-63 

Maison de la Suze, Nantes, 46 ; 
decoration of, 55 

Marshal of France, Gilles made, 

19 
M^vioires des H^ritiers, 28 
Gives lists of Gilles's lands and 

from what family inherited, 

28, 29 



Inaugurated by his brother and 

cousin, 28, 29 
Interdiction of sale or transfer 

by the King, 55-61 
Sales and transfers of property 

by Gilles, 30-32 
Sentence of the King under, 

55-61 
Value of his property estimated 
in, 30, 39, 41, 50, 53, 55, 
56, 60 
Montargis, siege of, 18 
Mother Goose publications, 183 
Music, Gilles's fondness for, 27 
Mystery of the Siege of Orleans, 
41-43 ; Appendix C, 189 ; of 
Lord Jesus Christ and the Vir- 
gin Mary, 43-49 

N 

Notices, public, made in France 
by trumpet or drum, 43-45, 60 

O 

Orleans, expensive visit of Gilles 
to, 50-52 

P 

Perrault, Charles : 

Author of the story of Blue- 
beard, xi. 
Identity of Gilles de Retz with 

Bluebeard, xiv. 
Life and history of, xi. 
Member of Academy of 

France, xii. 
Mother Goose stories, first 
publication of, by, xiii. ; 
names of, xiii. 
Writings of, xi., xiii. 
Personal appearance of Gilles, 

24-26 
Pierre de I'Hospital, Chief Just- 
ice of Brittany, 93, 135-138. 
168, 174, 175 
Portraits of Gilles, 24 



Index 



211 



Prairie de Piesse, place of execu- 
tion, 175 

Prelati, Fran9ois, alchemist, 73, 
127, 139, 167, 168 

Property of Gilles : 

Lands inherited, 2, 5, 28, 29 
Raided by Margaret de Clis- 

son, 12 
Sales and transfers of, 30-32 
Value estimated, 30, 39, 41, 
50, 53, 55, 56, 60 

R 

Records of trial in archives of 
Loire-Inferieure, 98-100, 170 

Religious hierarchy (pseudo), 27, 
28, 41, 48, 53, 54, 57, 58 

Rene de la Suze, brother of 
Gilles, 4, 28, 29 

Retz changed from Rais in 1581, 

I, 3 
Richemont, Count of, Constable 
of France, 16 



Sentence of Henriet and Poitou, 

174 ; of Gilles, 168, 175 
Shahan, Dr. Thomas J., ix., 

XV. 

Streets, decoration of, custom 

continued in France, 36, 37 
Suze, Maison de la, 55 



Theatre : 

History of, in France, 32-38 
Mysteries, moralities, dramas, 

and farces, 35-38 
Religious plays, fostered by 

the clergy, 33-35 
Streets decorated during, cus- 
tom in France, 36, 37 
Travelling shows in small 
towns ^ France, 35, 36 
Three languages spoken in Brit- 
tany in time of Gilles, 7, 137, 
172 



TifFauges, castle of, 75-78 ; lab- 
oratory for magic and black 
art, used as, 78, 79 
Torture of Gilles, order for, 134 
Tournemine, duel with Beau- 

manoir, 169 
Trial of Gilles by Ecclesiastical 
Court, chap, v., 93, 167 
Address to public, 160-163 
Acknowledges jurisdiction and 

admits guilt, 125 
Bishop of Nantes presiding 

officer, 93 
Blouyn, Jean, Vice-Inquisi- 
tor, aid to Bishop, 95, lOO, 
102, 105, 140 
Confession of Gilles during, 

137-159 

Criminal law in France, his- 
tory of, 96 ; practice of, 131— 
133 ; torture under, 134 

Decree of excommunication, 
124, 126, 129, 165 

Depositions, 105-109 

Excommunication, 124-126, 
129, 165 

Information against Gilles, 
116, 123 

Order for torture of Gilles, 134 

Plea of " not guilty " entered, 
127 

Refusal to plead, of Gilles, 1 10- 
116, 123, 124 

Sentence of Court, 163, 164 

Three languages employed, 
137, 172 

Witnesses against Gilles, 105- 
109, 127 
Trial of Gilles before Civil Court, 

chap, vi., 167-177 

Bouffay, Palais de Justice, 
169 

Depositions, Appendix D, 
195-206 

Henriet, Griart, and Poitou 
tried with Gilles, 167 

Palais de Justice, Place Bouf- 
fay, 169 



212 



Index 



Trial of Gilles — Continued 
Pierre del'Hospital, presiding, 

93, 135-138 
Poitou tried with Henriet and 

Gilles, 167 



Record of trial in archives at 
Nantes, 98-108, Appendix 
D, 195 

Sentence of Gilles, Henriet, 
and Poitou, 174, 175 




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Vr -.,."*■- 




■H1959 



